


Intervention

by WampusRoar13



Series: Peverell Lines Run Deep [8]
Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Albus Dumbledore Being an Idiot, Anal Sex, Daddy Kink, F/M, Kink Negotiation, M/M, Multi, Oral Sex, Possessive Original Percival Graves, Protective Original Percival Graves, Rough Sex, Strangulation, Tags May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-10
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 19:01:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 76,081
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29337198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WampusRoar13/pseuds/WampusRoar13
Summary: Gellert Grindelwald senses that something isn't right with his grandson, Harry Potter, after the showdown in the Chamber of Secrets. Naturally he deploys his hard charging husband, Percival Graves, to investigate. The investigation has a lot of ups and downs, but so do their libidos. so it works out; not only for the husbands, but also their estranged mate, Albus Dumbledore.
Relationships: Aberforth Dumbledore/Minerva McGonagall, Albus Dumbledore/Gellert Grindelwald, Albus Dumbledore/Original Percival Graves, Albus Dumbledore/Original Percival Graves/Gellert Grindelwald, Orion Black/Aberforth Dumbledore, Percival Graves | Gellert Grindelwald/Original Percival Graves, Sirius Black/Narcissa Black Malfoy
Series: Peverell Lines Run Deep [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1467184
Comments: 24
Kudos: 50
Collections: Harry Potter FFs





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Exploring some of the darker kinks that have only been alluded to in other parts of this series. It won't be a story for everyone, but it'll be fun anyway. Chapter three will be posted on Valentine's Day and the fun largely starts there. Then, I'm thinking I'll post chapter one of baby Harry sometime around the 20th.

Prologue: Peverell Lines Prologue

_ September 1974 _

“How did he manage to get you all kicked out this time?”

“Set a cretin gnome loose on the heartless btich’s house elf while he was serving tea. Only took him three days to execute; he’s getting pretty good at it.”

“What did Abby say?”

“He scolded him for causing trouble; after she cursed him the other month I was worried too… But, he laughed his ass off once the boys went upstairs.”

“She didn’t?” The Director hissed nastily.

Orion saw two secretaries, where they were entering the small room that housed the elevators, quickly turning on their heels to vacate the space with the angry vampire. He said nothing, not feeling his friend should have to be self conscious for cowardly individuals, “She did. I threatened her to within an inch of her life, but it makes me terrified to go to work every other week. Reggie’s gotten good at flying under her radar, but Sirius… You know how he is, Perce.”

Percival Graves sighed as he and Orion waited for the elevator. The wizards were heading back toward his office from their ally conference, which had dragged on too damn long. Both were ready to grab their jackets and get to dinner, needing to be anywhere but work. 

The Director did in fact know how his oldest godson was. Sirius Orion Black treated being in Gryffindor as a way of life. He admitted, “Britain may not have done the same Statute of Secrecy crap, but Europe’s magical family law is as ancient and shitty as anywhere.”

“Who are you telling?” The Black Lord demanded, “I don’t even know of anywhere else that magical marriage contracts are still a thing. Who let’s parents make teenagers sign something like that?” Orion growled, “Cygnus threatened to do it to his girls; I told him he’d never get another penny from our family and that’s only if I didn’t kill him. If Sirius or Reggie ever even… Sometimes I don’t know why Abby puts up with me and my family.”

“You’re his mate and he loves you. You can’t help that your father was a bastard,” Percy reminded him, “I knew the rogue wasn’t going to risk being at Grimmauld Place before he went back anyway. He’d die if Aberforth didn’t put him on that train.”

Of course, the rogue wasn’t his only nephew at Hogwarts anymore, “How’s Reg liking school?”

“He’s fine, he’s got Cissy and her friend, Severus. Boy’s not crazy about being apart from Sirius so much, but it’s part of being in different houses; he’ll be fine,” Orion was glad for his youngest niece. He was even more ecstatic that, with both boys in school, he didn’t have to spend every other week at Grimmauld place with Walburga. At least until summer rolled back around.

“I thought Sirius’ first letter was going to burst into flames like a howler, he was so excited,” Orion chuckled, “He keeps talking about getting his lion.”

“Jamie too,” Percival huffed, “We’re never going to keep them from it until they’re seventeen.”

“I want to agree with you, but Abby’s determined. I’m not getting involved, he and Sirius can duke it out.”

The vampire laughed, “I’ll put money on the boys; we’re getting too old to win against the new generation.”

The Black Lord groaned, “Don’t remind me. I’m already dreading turning fifty this year.”

“You are the youngest person in the family!” Percy reminded him, “The kids excluded, obviously.”

“I know, but it still bugs me. Besides, you’ve been thirty-five for a damn eon by now.”

Rolling his eyes the Director acknowledged, “That part’s true.”

There was silence for several long moments and Orion studied his best friend. He could tell that the vampire was lost in thought, as the Graves Lord stood perfectly still, not bothering to keep up the constant movement that he was so used to exhibiting at work, “Why don’t you just go see him? Firecall and talk? Send a letter, anything?”

The Director huffed, eyes moving down to stare at his feet, “I don’t know anymore. What would I even say?”

“I love you, I miss you, I’m not even mad anymore,” A femine voice joined them in the little room housing the elevators, “By the way, take your pants off, because I’m coming over.”

Orion laughed so hard he had to lean on the wall beside the elevator shaft. He couldn’t deny that Porpentina Scamander was one of his favorite people. The woman took absolutely no shit from her declared work husband and he loved the way that she challenged his and his mate’s best friend. Once he could breathe, even as Percy shook his head at her, the siren exclaimed, “That works!”

“That does not work,” Percy hissed at his work wife, “Besides, it’s been decades. He may not even want to speak to me anymore.”

Now it was Tina who rolled her eyes, “Percy, the man could break out any time he wanted; he’s proven that many times. It’s his own damn castle! The only reason he’s stayed in time out is because of you. You were genuinely mad at him and he can’t stand that.”

He huffed, “I’ll think about it, just... New topic, please.”

The elevator sounded it’s arrival and as they all stepped in Tina acquiesced to his request, “So, how’s it feel to be an old man?”

“You are older than me!” Orion said with mock offense.

“Yeah, but now you’re officially going to be one of us!” Tina told him, “Bet Sirius has had a field day with that.”

He groaned, “Damn straight he has. I don’t want to be fifty!”

“Then don’t,” Percy said dryly, as the doors started sliding shut, “You are a siren, it’s your choice.”

Tina puffed at him exasperated, “Says the man who loved being fifty and who has stayed deaged for someone he’s not even speaki…”

A hand dashed in to stop the doors right before the doors closed. When it popped back open and Albus Dumbledore realized who was in the elevator, they could all see that he wished he hadn’t caught it. After a moment of shock, he stepped into the golden machine with them, pressing the button for the floor below Percy’s office. He kept his back to the three and his lips tight, obviously refusing to say a word.

Percy and Orion both rolled their eyes meeting glances, before the Graves Lord took an even breath, refusing to give an audible show of his frustration, as he cast his eyes upwards staring at the ceiling. He prayed to Mary and Morgana that the ride would be blessedly short. 

Irritated with his brother in law, Orion glanced over to Tina and realized that she was glaring absolute daggers into Albus’ head for ignoring her best friend and work husband. He knew that the woman was protective of Percival; had been since he returned from spousal abduction to the States with Flea. Her resentment was only intensified by the way Albus had ignored his family since their infant daughter was kidnapped by muggle extremists. Although Aberforth and Albus had started talking again, tentatively, when Sirius started Hogwarts, Orion wasn’t thrilled with him either and did not like being ignored when the brothers were supposed to be in contact.

As the door slid shut, he had a thought, “Sirius was telling me that Jimmy placed team Captain over the summer, how did it go?”

Over the years, Percival Graves had been hatefully told that vampires couldn’t feel and were heartless a million times. When he glanced toward Orion’s reflection and spotted Albus Dumbledore’s horrified expression at the nickname in the elevator metal, it became his personal mantra for several seconds, to keep himself from busting out laughing. They were all shielding at work, but he would have given anything to hear what the fae and genius was thinking at that moment.

Luckily Tina didn’t even miss a beat, popping her ‘boss’ in the shoulder, “Oh, you didn’t tell me that! Tell Jim I said congratulations!”

“I will,” He said smoothly, glancing at her with a small grin for covering him, “It went very well. He managed to get invited back to lead the team again next year. Flea and I were surprised when Sirius didn’t join.”

“Heartless bitch wouldn’t sign; they required dual consent,” Orion growled, “He showed out so badly, that’s when she cursed him.”

“Jimmy mentioned she had something to do with it,” Percy acknowledged, “When he turned up at the apartment. He seemed excited to play the team’s mascot though.”

“Getting my oldest to show out is never a challenge,” Orion admitted, “I’m sure he made a right spectacle.”

“Did he manage to get you three back to Hogsmeade before school started?” Tina asked the Black Lord.

“That he did,” Orion smiled, “Used a cretin gnome this time.”

“Points for originality,” Tina told them as the doors slid open. 

Albus Dumbledore stepped out quickly, face still looking like he had tasted a lemon, and disappeared around the nearest corner. The three of them shared a look as the door started closing once more. As soon as it was shut, they all burst out laughing. Orion leaned back on the furthest wall of the elevator to hold himself up. While Tina’s head fell forward onto Percy’s shoulder, her whole body shaking.

The vampire shook his head at the two, wiping a tear from his eye, “We’re all going straight to hell.”

“Jewish,” Tina reminded him playfull for the billionth time in their fifty years together at Macusa, “Go to confession, you’ll be fine.”

Percy snorted, “Forgive me father, for I have sinned… My best friend’s brother in law was being a prick, so we screwed with him.”

Orion laughed, “Can’t you just say mate? It’s less of a mouthful.”

“Own it,” Tina encouraged, “You’ll feel better.”

“He’s had that shit shut down for so long,” Percy sighed, “I don’t think it’s applicable if you’ve never said two words to one another.”

“Not even when Blondie went to prison?” Tina asked him, “Nothing? Are you sure?”

“Positive.”

“Albus is the master of avoidance,” Orion told her, as they stepped out of the elevator, heading for Percy’s office, “There’s a reason he took so long to confront Gellert. A blood pact promising to always love each other didn’t keep him from jack shit, and even then, Percy had already done the hard part to make The Liberator want to break that wand in half when he took Flea away.”

“Fair,” Tina moved on quickly, remembering that Percy had already tolerated talk of his other mate as much as he would today. She didn’t blame him honestly; neither of Percy’s mates were prizes in her opinion, “Where are you two heading?”

“Dinner, care to join us?”

“Can’t, Mora had her foal. I promised to help after work,” Tina told them, stepping into her office to grab her coat, before catching up to them in Percy’s. 

“The auburn hippogriff, right?” Percy clarified.

“Yep!”

“Give my congratulations to all,” The Director encouraged as she quickly took off for home. He and Orion headed back toward the elevators once more, moving to the international floo network and waiting for Abby to join them in the States for a night in New York.

When the bar owner arrived he saw immediately that his younger mate and best friend were entirely too happy, “What is it?”

“Can’t we just have a good day?” Orion asked, stealing a kiss as they finally moved out of MACUSA.

“At an international conference full of all day meetings?” Aberforth reminded sarcastically, “No, no you cannot.”

“He’s got you there,” Percy pointed out. 

Orion still couldn’t force the grin from his face as they moved toward their favorite italian restaurant in the city, “Fine, we may have done a bad thing to your brother.”

“He had it coming,” The salt and pepper haired fae said confidently, “But what did you do?”

By the time they finished their story, Aberforth was being held up by his mate, after Percival shared the image of his big brother’s face using legilimency. He couldn’t breathe because, unlike Percy, he knew exactly what his genius of a brother had been thinking. Fleamont was Percy and Grindelwald’s only child; that made James the Flaring Fiend’s heir. The thought of them calling the legendary and notorious Liberator’s heir ‘Jimmy’ would have just bugged the absolute hell out of the barely red haired wizard and that made his gut want to explode from the induced hysteria.

The trio enjoyed dinner, sharing the rest of their day’s experiences, both at the conference and the bar. The two government officials talked about the endless meetings they’d endured and Abby shared the letters that Sirius and Reggie sent home that day. Then they left for their upscale apartment building, where Orion kept a place in the city for nights like tonight, when they were in the States; the couple’s place just a floor below their best friend’s. 

“Can’t you just move back?” Abby demanded, “Gods, it’s been decades.”

Not wanting his mate caught off guard or surprised if Percy was short, Orion sent a warning of their earlier conversation across their mating bond. He wasn’t surprised when that did nothing to dissuade his goat of a fae mate. Kendra Dumbledore might have called him the auguery of their family, but that was too good for what a determined, stubborn, irritating arse his lover could be.

“What for?” Percy asked, “The kids are in hand with you two and, as today demonstrated, your brother wants nothing to do with me.”

“Look, Perce, I’m never going to be a Grindelwald fanboy, everyone knows this,” The fae started, “But he’s your husband. You two are going to have to talk eventually.”

“And say what?” The vampire demanded, “I’ve never agreed with his politics and I’m not going to!”

“You think I’m asking you to? Me?” Abby set him a look, raising his eyebrows, “But, I don’t think he even agrees with what he did anymore. He’s stayed there because he doesn’t feel like you want him now and everyone can see how miserable you are without the bastard. Just admit that you’re still crazy about the son of a bitch and get him moved to house arrest here.”

“I thought the point of this was to get me back in Europe,” The Director pointed out with a sad smile, trying to distract the dark fae with his sarcasm.

Aberforth snorted, “I would love nothing more than for you to come back. Commute to work if you don’t want to let Tina take over. Flea would be ecstatic! James would explode into confetti. Gods know that boy worships the ground you walk on. More than anything though, I just want you to not be miserable anymore…” 

The empath fiddled with the Dumbledore heir ring on his middle finger, “Percy, I know why you left. I agree with you, he had to stop; more than anyone, I wanted him stopped. But, he  _ did  _ stop. He gave the wand up to Albus,” The wizard sighed, “Listen, I can’t imagine how you felt in that elevator today. And, I’m certainly not asking you to share with the class, I’m just saying think about it. You’re doing to him what Albus did to you today and that’s not right either… From what I gather even those two idiots talk.”

“They do,” Percy confirmed quietly, “My magic’s linked to anything that goes on in Nurmengard.”

The siren of the trio was angry on his friend’s behalf. Everyone wanted to never let Percy forget who he married, well before Grindelwald ever rose to power, and held the vampire’s career hostage just like the Dark Lord had his spouse. Yet when the blasted public wanted the man contained they were more than happy to put that on the Director of Security for MACUSA, who didn’t even live or work on the same continent. Orion glared at his husband, not liking the hurt that flashed across their best friend’s face.

Aberforth still pushed forward, “Do that then, if you’re not ready to see him… Just… Please don’t be miserable, especially when I know being with him is what you want. You left, you made your point, he stopped. There’s nothing wrong in getting back with him now.”

By that point they had arrived in the building and were outside the Black family’s apartment. The vampire Director stared up at the ceiling, “Maybe you’ve got a point. I still don’t know what to say to him though.”

Orion snorted where he was unlocking the door, “There’s always Tina’s suggestion.”

“Ugh,” Percy rolled his eyes, “That woman’s a menace. Good night, assholes.”

He trudged up the stairs, his last words quiet, little more than a whisper, fond but distracted, as the Graves Lord was lost in his own head.

The two disappeared into their apartment after issuing farewells and Abby looked at his mate, “What did Tina suggest?” The siren just shared it through their mating bond, but the younger Dumbledore brother could feel his mate’s irritation with him. He huffed, “Someone had to say it.”

“Maybe the day your brother pulled his little schtick wasn’t the right time. You didn’t see Percy’s face when he just put his back to him like that,” Orion pointed out.

“It’s been ridiculous since James was born,” he hissed at his husband, “Percy has wanted the blonde terror back for over a decade. If I’m the last one in this family willing to kick you idiots in the arse when you need it, so be it! But I will not apologize for that!” He spun and took off for the bedroom. 

Still irritated Orion called out, “Yeah, well maybe you should start with your brother, before you come for the rest of us!!!”

The door slammed and he was never more tempted to go sleep in Graves’ spare bedroom. Instead, because he did not want to have to explain the contents of their argument, he pulled off his tie and shirt. That left him in only his white sleeveless undershirt as Orion got a drink before collapsing into his recliner. He had one arm thrown across his eyes, the other holding his drink, feet propped up, when he felt the warding magic on the apartment alert him to a fire call.

The siren was just praying that it wasn’t the Ministry as he let the call come through, in no mood to have to floo across the damn Atlantic this late. He didn’t even bother to move his arm, if anyone didn’t like that he was relaxing at home, they could simply kiss his…

“Well, don’t you look like a prize.”

He recognized the voice and quickly sat up to greet his tattoo artist, Rhys Inkler. Orion couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face, “What are you doing calling me so late, old man? How’s the baby?”

“I’m not the one turning fifty, you old bugger! And she’s still not sleeping through the night; not sure I’m gonna make it, Ori,” Rhys disclosed, unabashedly observing the Black family and Slytherin crests that adorned each of the siren’s upper arms, making sure they were still in perfect condition. They were.

“I remember those days,” He shook his head.

“Well, speaking of kids, that’s kind of why I’m calling you,” Rhys told him. When all he got in response was a confused expression the man moved to continue quickly, “Your son just walked into Tattoo Artists here in Diagon Alley; trying to bribe me for a job. He’s got three other boys with him.”

“Ahh shit!” Orion complained, throwing his arm back over his face, “Damn it all and I can’t even be surprised; his uncle is out of the country.”

The artist laughed, “Well, I told them I was going to make sure the gold they paid me was authentic. I didn’t want to tip them off that I knew you; I figured they’d just leave and get some hack job to do it.”

“You are not wrong,” Orion said, listening to the shower running in the bedroom for a few seconds, “Go ahead and do it, Rhys.”

“What!? Are you sure?” 

“You don’t know them, but they will get it done one way or another. By a hack job or themselves,” Orion nodded, sure of his decision, “Go ahead. They’re all mine, you have my permission.”

“Alright man, as long as you consent,” He nodded, “They want a…”

“A lion, upper arm, where my crests are. Roaring, golden fur and red maned.”

He stared at the man for a moment, “Okay… Maybe they wanted a lion for a while, but that’s too damn specific. Have you seen the drawing they brought me?”

“No, the picture is a copy of their uncle’s. They’re getting one just like his.”

The man snorted, “Fine, then. You coming to pick them up?”

“Nah, if they can get out, then they can get back in. They always manage,” Orion told him, “Do me a favor and let them think they got away with it, huh? No reason to get in trouble with the mate.”

“Fair enough! Wouldn’t want Aberforth after my arse either,” Rhys admitted then cut the firecall off. 

Orion knew that he had until Albus got back to Hogwarts. Minerva McGonagall was undoubtedly waiting on the boys and once the irritating redhead got back, she’d tell him what they got up to. The older fae would never risk not telling his brother what the boys did; then Abby would have a right fit. At least, if the boys kept their mouths shut about where, it wouldn’t be his arse getting chewed out.

Sitting and having a couple more drinks, the Black Lord thought about going upstairs and seeing Percy. He didn’t know if that would make things better or worse though. After debating for a few minutes, as the shower was still running, Orion decided to risk it.

Getting a refill he moved upstairs, barefoot, to his best friend’s apartment. The warding magic automatically unlocked the door recognizing him and Orion slipped inside, worried Percy might have gone to bed after the taxing day. Instead, he found the Graves Lord sitting at the desk in his living room, crumpled balls of paper thrown all over the floor having been cast away, while Percy scribbled on his turul stationary. After a few moments the vampire also tossed aside the one he was working on. 

The younger lord did not have to ask what he was writing, “Struggling?”

“Why the fuck is this so hard, Ori?” Percival demanded, sitting back harshly, index finger going over his lip as it always did when he was frustrated, “I mean, Abby’s not wrong. I am married to the son of a bitch! This shouldn’t be a Herculean task!” 

He sat on the sofa, legs extended before him, facing the Director, “What do you want to say to him?”

“What?”

Genuine confusion, it was worse than Orion feared, “You know, how you have a conversation with anyone. You say what you want to say. What do you want to say to him?”

Percy stared at him for several minutes, just thinking about the question. He hadn’t talked to Gellert in so long and, before he’d brought Flea with him to the States, they’d had it out. There really was nothing left to say about what had happened then. Gellert had already begged him for forgiveness, given up all his political intentions, and even asked him not to leave. Percy had anyway, needing to be sure that the seer was really going to stop. 

There was just the here and now, but he wasn’t sure what that looked like for them anymore. He was in the States, Flea was grown and finally had a son. James was between them and basically lived in Nurmengard when he wasn’t with Percy, but there was only so much they would be able to talk about in terms of his quidditch success.

Seeing the haplessness on his friend’s face, Orion sighed, “Maybe ask if he wants you to open the bond back up?”

That seemed to make the vampire startle. After he realized what his siren friend meant, the Director shook his head, “I never muted our bond.”

“You didn’t?”

“Of course not, I’m not your brother in law,” Percy told him tersely, “I left to prove a point, but I wasn’t going to let some mob show up on his doorstep and kill him either. If he ever needed me, I’d be there.”

“Of course you aren’t! I’m sorry, Perce, I didn’t mean…”

“No, no, it’s not you,” He moved to apologize, head cradled in his hands, “I’m sorry, this is harder than I thought it would be and I hate it.”

Orion waved him off, “Look, I know that he writes to Albus and he’s expressed how much he wants you back. He doesn’t seem to know that you’d be there if he needed you; maybe you should just tell him that. It’s a start.”

Seeing the sour look that crossed Percy’s features, he raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“Nothing.”

The Black Lord thought back over what he just said and then chuckled, “Percy, they aren’t together. It’s just letters.”

The vampire was grateful that he couldn’t blush because he probably would have looked like the Ilvermorny banners at that moment, “Are you sure?”

“Positive!” Orion assured him, “Gellert isn’t going to be with anyone without your approval, especially Albus. He knows the two of you still haven’t spoken and you’re his husband. I swear on that, Perce. Albus is just one of the only people who write to him, along with Flea and Jamie, and Lady Bagshot.”

“Okay,” the Graves accepted, staring at the blank stationary in front of him.

Orion spent the next several hours as an impartial sounding board as the other wizard painfully forged through a letter to his mate and husband. Thinking about the man downstairs, although they couldn’t get legally married because of Walburga, and the threat to Orion’s own magic if he broke the marriage contract, he felt himself melt toward his husband. Fiddling with the ring on his finger, symbolic though it may be, he still thought Abby should have given the vampire a day after what happened in the elevator. Then again, there was also the reality that they were going back to Europe at first light for work. 

Aberforth Dumbledore also was not a ‘beat around the bush’ sort of individual; there was a reason he called him a goat… Maybe that was what he should get the fae for Christmas, a little billy goat. If the little terror butted his mate in the arse a few times, maybe he’d slow down in the way he did it to other people. Probably not, but it was worth a shot.

When the blasted letter was finally as complete as Percival was going to get it, Orion felt the wards flare down stairs, as the man was sending it off, “Ahh Hel and Hekate.”

“What?” Percy asked, letting his owl, Carni, a Great Horned Owl, fly out the window.

Orion rolled his eyes, “Okay, between us, the boys snuck out to get a tattoo. I’m guessing Albus went back tonight and had to come right back when he found out.”

“Does Abby know that you know?”

“Hel is great and I’m not an idiot; absolutely not.”

“Touche,” Percy said as his friend headed for the door, “Good luck with that.”

“Let’s meet at seven for breakfast before we head back,” Orion said, already halfway out the door. He closed the door and turned, finding Aberforth at the top of the landing, undoubtedly coming to get him as he was sure the older fae asked to speak to both of them, “What now?”

He was confused when Aberforth flinched, then he realized that the other wizard thought he was still pissed from their fight. Not wanting to keep fighting he quickly corrected him, “I felt Albus come in, I meant him.”

“Oh,” There was relief in the other’s voice. Obviously Abby didn’t want to fight anymore either, “I don’t know yet… I should probably talk to Percy.”

“He’s going to bed,” Orion told him. He saw hurt flash across the other’s face and, again, it occurred that he’d misstepped. Abby thought Percival had asked not to see him. Apparently he was off his game tonight and he needed to fix that before he got his own arse sold out about the tattoo, “Not that! He’s meeting us for breakfast. We just sent off his letter to Grindelwald.”

All he got was a pair of wide eyes, “Oh.”

He chuckled, “Come on, let’s go see what Sirius has done this time.”

Abby smiled at him, “One of these days it’s going to be Reggie and he’s never going to let you live it down.”

“I hope you’re right,” Orion told him, “But, so far, a warm day in Helheim still seems more likely.”

“Percy would say…”

“Hell is scorching, yes, I’m well aware,” Orion beat him to the punchline.

“He’s only been in school for three weeks,” Aberforth complained, grabbing his mate’s hand now that he realized the man wasn’t still angry at him, “What could he possibly be doing?”

“It’s three more weeks than we got last year,” Orion reminded him. Albus had been on their doorstep just after the feast ended the boys’ third year; some welcoming prank that wound up with all the teachers, and the headmaster, doing an elaborate dance and resulted in the first day of classes being cancelled. Although Orion had sent the self proclaimed marauders one incensed howlder, Aberforth hadn’t been able to breathe at the thought of his son doing that to his uncle and the man’s staff.

They entered the apartment and Orion quickly spotted the headmaster and his phoenix companion. He could only assume that was a faster means of travel than floo after a long day. 

Albus was sitting on the sofa awaiting them. The fae looked up and blushed but still greeted the siren, “Orion.”

“Oh, so you do remember my name,” His brother in law didn’t miss a beat, “I was beginning to wonder.”

Aberforth snickered, always delighted when anyone gave his brother a hard time. Especially when the genius had it coming. “I love you so much,” He reminded his husband.

“I’m so sorry,” Albus said, embarrassment obvious, “I… panicked. I just… I didn’t know what to say.”

“Lesson of the night seems to be that anything is better than silence,” Orion reclaimed his chair, pulling Abby down into his lap, “So, what did he do? Paint the Great Hall in hippogriff feathers? Declare his love for the werewolf in grandeur during Transfiguration? Put cretin gnomes in old Sluggy’s office?”

Aberforth tried to hide his huffing laughter by hiding his face in Orion’s neck. Sirius did have an unbelievable amount of sexual tension with his sandy blonde friend and his mate had long predicted that the two would end up together. While the fae wasn’t so sure, as he could feel both’s strictly platonic emotions for one another, he was sure that they would be lifelong friends. He wouldn’t be surprised if their mates wound up sharing many traits with the marauder they weren’t mated to.

Albus smiled. For all everyone complained about his twinkling eyes, his brother lit up like nothing he’d ever seen whenever the younger siren was around and no one complained when the dark Dumbledore twinkled. Still, he was happy for his brother. He knew the fae had stopped aging, worried about Orion’s youth when they first met, but he was hoping with the man turning fifty that they’d feel more on par with one another finally, “Nothing quite so impactful this time; although I’ve heard cretin gnomes are all the rage recently. They were caught sneaking out.”

“Oh, okay…” Aberforth was genuinely surprised. It wasn’t that sneaking out wasn’t bad, it was. The boys just got caught doing it so often, that it was usually just a firecall, not a home visit from his brother.

“I know, not when I normally turn up,” Albus acknowledged, knowing he was never going to hear the end of this, “It’s what they were doing while they were gone that I thought you’d want to know about.”

“Well, don’t leave me in suspense,” Abby instructed.

“They went and got a tattoo.”

Aberforth groaned, “Oh Hel, I can only imagine what they go too! Who the fuck gives fourteen year olds a tattoo? Would Rhys?”

“Tattoo Artist doesn’t do minors without parental consent,” Orion told him without a moment’s hesitation.

“Of course they fucking don’t! What hack job would? What is wrong with people? Bloody absolute hell, those stubborn idiots! I am going to kick their…”

Both men just let him storm off into the office, undoubtedly going for a howler, to let his son have a piece of Abby’s mind. Orion waited until he could hear the man screaming into one of the red envelopes before turning back to his brother in law, “Did they get it?”

“A lion? Indeed. As a matter of fact, they mentioned where they got it too.”

“Bloody hell,” Orion cursed, now he was in trouble too.

Albus chuckled, “That was a very… persuasive statement, but Rhys would never have done that unless you knew.”

“Yeah, I knew,” Orion admitted, “We’d just had a row over the lift incident when he popped in and they were going to do it anyway, so…”

The fae flinched at the mention of their earlier altercation, even as the siren waved off his ending. Knowing he hadn’t handled that well, the oldest Dumbledore felt absolutely terrible. He had never known what to say to Percival Graves; he’d muted both of his mating bonds so very long ago. He didn’t know what to do or how to talk to the man; it’s not like you can just apologize for decades of elected isolation and expect the hurt it caused to go away. 

Gellert said that the vampire still hadn’t reached out to him either. And Albus in no way wanted to get between the two husbands… Alright, that was a bad way to even think about that… But still, he wasn’t trying to make things more complicated between the pair. So, he wrote to his friend and heard about his heartache, but continued to avoid his other mate, even as he kept in contact with Flea and aided in raising the family’s youngest like James was another nephew.

Aberforth stomped back into the room, red envelope securely in one hand, an owl in the other, “Anything else I need to add before I send this?”

“No, that’s it.”

Orion was surprised that his brother in law seemed to have zero interest in selling him out to his mate. He accepted the scarlet fae’s attempt at an apology, knowing the smoke would have to long clear between his friend and Grindelwald, before any of them would be crazy enough to try and put Percy and Albus in the same space again. So, once the howler was sent off to arrive with Hogwarts’ morning post, the Headmaster left quickly to go back and get some sleep.

The next morning Sirius and his friends endured the howler with pride, everyone in the Great Hall quickly becoming aware of exactly what they’d done and what their new brands were. Albus spotted his youngest nephew, along with Cissy, about to fall out of their seats, hysterical, while Severus didn’t bother suppressing a chroused eye roll with Lily Evans. 

Apparently Abby had come to be pissed at him once he’d left, because Albus got a howler as well. He and Minerva quickly dismissed everyone to their morning classes as the cat calls started toward the troublemakers, before Sirius could actually start a strip tease at breakfast. They both knew he would.

There was some surprise when, the next day, two more howlers arrived in the same vein as the first. Then it happened again the next day, and the next, and the next. By the second week of howlers coming every day, even Minnie was giving Albus sideways looks, that plainly cited where she thought Sirius got his dramatic tendencies. The older fae agreed with her silently; that Abby ever worried Sirius wouldn’t be his son was a damn joke! 

Still, everyone got used to the new normal of Sirius Black’s dad bitching about him getting a tattoo at fourteen. It actually became a standard warning for if students forgot something, their last chance to run back to the dorms before they’d be late. Almost a month after the howlers started, Albus shared a relieved look with his nephew when the first morning arrived with only a regular letter at breakfast.

The other boys looked almost disappointed, having enjoyed the creative lengths that Sirius’ dad went to as he came up with new ways to yell at his son for the same thing everyday, but James still leaned in to read over his friends’ shoulder. The quartet of Marauders were sitting at the Gryffindor table’s end, right below the instructors. From the black wax of the seal, rather than red, Albus was guessing Orion finally had enough of his husband’s antics.

Still, despite many’s apparent disappointment, and all the money that was exchanging hands, soon it was time for all the kids to get moving. As the boys took off, he believed for Horace’s first class of the day with Slytherin, the Headmaster heard them talking.

Sirius was grinning bright like the sun, “Gotta love it when the old man puts his foot down in the right direction!”

James smiled at him as he moved around the table, a bag slung over his shoulder, “And that would be any direction other than yours?”

“You’re damn straight!” Sirius said as they high fived, “Whoop!” 

The sandy blonde next to the Black heir crossed his arms and mocked him, “I thought your father was persona non grata and you didn’t like him?”

“Only every other week,” Sirius corrected the sarcastic werewolf, “Once you enter the shedevil’s domain he becomes an enemy of the state and should be treated as such!”

“As someone with an enemy of the state as a relative,” James put in, “That is offensive; your mother is worse.”

“Who are you telling?” Sirius asked, before snatching another donut and running off with James’ glasses, where the Potter heir had been finishing homework at breakfast.

“Arsehole, come back here!” James took off after his best friend.

Remus Lupin rolled his eyes at their antics, but ran after them for the door, “You’re both idiots!”

“Guys wait up,” Albus chuckled as Peter Pettigrew sprinted after his taller friends. 

He shared a grin with Minerva at the boys’ commentary before she took off for classes and he waited for the hall to clear out. He spotted Lily Evans meet up with Severus Snape and Narcissa Black at the door to leave for class; little Reggie looked to trail after them until they reached the stairs. He hoped that his nephew was alright, he hadn’t wanted to check in a third time and crowd the eleven year old; siblings being in different houses always struggled, especially during their first year.

Still, he hadn’t really been surprised by the choice. Sirius took after Orion in appearance and charm, but modeled himself after Aberforth’s brashness. Reggie was the opposite, although maybe not with appearance. His little nephew shared the Dumbledore brothers’ joint hallow in his longing to shield others, while his model for dealing with their crazy family was his father through and through, subtlety and cunning to the end.

Once everyone had cleared out of the hall he moved back to his office to write several correspondences, but as the fae entered Fawkes was just coming in with a letter from Nurmengard. Albus struggled to bat down the surge of excitement that came with the raven seal, reminding himself that they were nothing more than best friends, against every insistence of the long muted bonds that he hadn’t acknowledged in all but seventy five years. And given who Gellert was married to…

God, what in the hell was wrong with him? Because when he’d first gotten a letter from G after the lift, he’d been sure what it was about, and it wasn’t follow up on their discussion of how to remove that damned curse from his Defense position. Albus had been sure the Dark Lord was going to throttle him through the missive; actually, if Gellert wasn’t in prison, he’d assumed it would have been a howler. His first thought, almost a month ago, had been that the blonde siren was going to be having Flea bring him some of those after that mess.

Then it hit him that he hadn’t even considered how Fleamont Potter would react to their encounter; let the howlers floweth forth. Despite the fact that he had raised Flea like his own once Gellert and his husband sent him to Hogwarts, the next generation had never ceased being protective of his father. Between knowing about the vampire Director’s struggle to the position during his bachelor years, the discrimination he still faced, and that brief stint as a prisoner of his husband, Albus couldn’t blame Flea. 

Not to mention the Headmaster acknowledged how very badly he’d messed up that scenario. He’d even ignored Orion! Bloody hell, what was wrong with him?

Why couldn’t he just speak and let the other man set the damn pace? Every single time he was in the same room as Percival Graves he swore to breaking the wheel; that he was going to say something to him. It always seemed like his next thought was as the vampire was walking away. 

Gellert’s husband was the strongest magical presence he’d ever encountered, other than, maybe, the Liberator himself. The wizard ran the States like he was the one true king reborn, making every President’s term nominal at best, all because the people begged him not to leave. To top it all off Graves was still forty something and looked gorgeous in his suits, with his hair always slicked back perfect and…

And, as Albus pinched the bridge of his nose, he reminded himself that it didn’t matter, because he wanted nothing to do with his mates romantically. He’d fucked up his family’s lives enough, managed to let his and Gellert’s tale get so twisted already, and there was no way that he was dragging Director Graves into his messes. The man already had a hard enough time with his career and the history of one mate. That’s why he was never going to deage, he’d decided; one lifetime was more than enough.

Opening that first letter, he was confused, then just surprised, when he discovered that the vampire hadn’t seemed to mention their encounter to Gellert at all. He had been telling the blonde idiot for years to just write to the man; his siren best friend confessed years ago that Graves never muted their bond. Gellert thinking that the Director didn’t want him anymore had been ridiculous since James was born, quite frankly. If the vampire wanted to move on from his mates, it was not like he didn’t have options and yet he never dated anyone else.

Reading through the letter, he’d smiled at the overall exuberance that Gellert exuded at his husband re-establishing contact with him. Although that same smile turned slightly devious when he recognized the panic in the siren when his friend pondered what to write back. He hadn’t dared to give feedback on that, but it warmed part of Albus to know that someone could still fluster Gellert Grindelwald. 

But, if the vampire was going to write Gellert anyway, why hadn’t Graves told him what happened? Albus knew that both his and the Director’s magics were linked to Nurmengard’s security, so the man clearly was aware of their communication. He probably didn’t think that Albus cared enough to even bring it up, so he didn’t either. 

The vampire wouldn’t have cause to think anything else, that was for certain. He’d been muted towards Gellert since their last conversation after the fight with Abby and Arianna’s death. He hadn’t even reopened their bond during the twenty minute conversation they’d had when the siren ceased control of the Elder wand. And Albus had muted his connection to Percy when he finally heard that the vampire met up with Gellert first, calling it fate, not even a few years after Godric’s Hollow.

Honestly, though, why Graves hadn’t told Gellert about the lift was a mystery and Albus hadn’t dared to bring it up. Instead they continued talking about how to remove that damn curse and discussed how James’ fourth year was going. His friend had been saying for the last two weeks that Albie should tell his brother off for his temper tantrum. G would be ecstatic to know that Orion had done it for him.

As he was scanning the letter, the new arrival charm alerted him to an incoming student. With the briefest of glances, Albus spotted a flash of blood red hair and chuckled, “It’s only three weeks in and you’re bored already?”

Lily Evans was too advanced for her own good and tended to bounce between himself, Minerva, and Horace for entertainment. Actually, he was genuinely surprised the girl was here since she was supposed to be in potions at the moment. It wasn’t one of her subjects that typically couldn’t hold the girl’s interest.

It wasn’t until a sob reached his ears that Albus abandoned the letter and, startled, gave the fourteen year old his full attention. Fawkes was already on her shoulder, trying to help, as tears poured from the little crimson haired girl’s eyes. Her shoulders were shaking and there was a piece of parchment clutched in her hands.

Standing he rushed over to her, leaning down to wipe the tears away, “Lily, what in the world happened, sweetheart?”

Her hand shook as she extended the parchment to him.

Taking it, Albus’ breath caught.

_ Heritage Potion - September 21, 1974 _

_ Brewer: Lily Jasmine Evans Dumbledore Black _

_ Status: Witch, Pureblood _

_ Father(s): Albus Dumbledore _

_ Carrier: Orion Black _


	2. Chapter 2

“Has he said anything to you about Albus?”

Percy glanced up from his aurors’ reports, but barely managed to look offended around his cigar, “I can’t say we’ve had much affinity toward him as a subject.”

“What about Severus?”

“Only when he wanted to stay with them for Yule,” He watched his husband of ninety-three years pace the room, already wringing his dragon totem from Tante Hilda. The Hungarian Horntail cast in bronze still perfectly matched the imprisoned Grindelwald’s brown eye, “What’s with the sudden inquisition? He got in a small scrape with a creature. We faced worse with that Whomping Willow incident.”

“You didn’t see how upset he was,” Gellert insisted, gesturing broadly and wildly to the garden many floors down from them, “He showed up here hysterical when Granger was petrified and now  _ this _ ?!”

His grip on the offending note was like a snake’s stranglehold.

“Baby boy…”

“Do not! What about the book?!”

“A charmed artifact,” Percy waved him off with his cigar, returning to his work, “Your boyfriend would tell you if there was more to it!”

It was the silence that tipped him off and made MACUSA’s Director of Security take another look. For nearly twenty years now, since they got back together in the wake of Lily’s return to the family, he’d been making that joke. And Gellert always rose to the occasion to remind him that Albus was not his boyfriend.

The Liberator and Elder Wand Conqueror were as married as the imprisoned terrorist and Percy, after all.

When the response wasn’t forthcoming, he dropped any pretense of looking over the routine paperwork, “Right, Gel? He’d tell you?”

The seer finally came to a stop before the bed where he’d been pacing since Percy got home. He’d been able to shower, change into pajamas, and settle with his cigar to read reports while the man he’d married just kept on wearing a whole in their bedroom floor. Mismatched eyes crept up from his necklace and watching him gulp felt like someone had impaled a silver stake through the vampire's heart, “I don’t know.”

Snuffing out the cigar in an old ashtray on his side of the bed, the Director had to confess, “I didn’t see that one coming. Thought you two couldn’t quit one another... ever.”

“He hasn’t been the same since he lost Lily,” Gellert sighed, crumpling onto the foot of their bed and both hands running through his hair, “I don’t… I don’t know that he tells anyone anything anymore.”

“Hey… Baby boy…” Percy crawled down the bed and pulled his husband into a hug. While the siren disappeared to hide in the crook of his neck, there was no resistance to giving up the note that Harry had just sent to the man. Upon straightening it out and actual review, there was no doubt that the verbage was questionable.

_ Dear Grandpa Gel, _

_ Had to fight a basilisk, but Fawkes saved me and I’m fine. There was this book and it was… controlling it? Is it possible to put yourself into an artifact? _

_ Please, don’t let the cavalry show up! I took the book and bird to the Flaming Flamingo. _

_ Madam Pomfrey says that we’ll be able to wake up Mione tomorrow. I’ll send another letter once I talk to her! _

_ Harry _

“Hmm… He’s been in touch with Abby.”

“How can you tell?”

“You don’t call him that… I wonder if he’d know what happened?”

"I doubt it. Those two haven't talked since we lost the kids either."

"Wonderful… What do you want me to do, babe?"

He knew his directive was unfair. Before the words even came out of his mouth. When he'd first run to New York as winter began settling in across the city, only days after Ariana had been lost, Gellert made the vampire swear he wouldn't force himself into Albus' life. The fight with the redhead, where he'd been told that the love of his life wanted nothing to do with either of his mates after losing his sister, had been too fresh and the hurt too catastrophic.

After a century it wasn't right to just demand a confrontation of the husband he'd held back for over nine decades, to ask Percy to go barging in and investigate something Gellert struggled to even call a hunch at this point. Shooting off the bed to pace again was all he could manage. That and chewing his thumbnail down to the quick as he wrung his necklace.

But something was clearly wrong.

It had been one thing before the Darkly Inclined Liberation Movement took off, back then having Percy stay his hand with their other mate had been about respecting the fire fae's wishes. After… After, when he'd been separated from Percy for holding the vampire hostage over two decades, he'd had no power to lord above either of them, though by then the damage was done. The pair hadn't spoken since their mating dream and Gellert didn't have the heart to demand it now.

He'd put Percy through so much over the course of their marriage. The war and spousal abduction, yes. But that was far from it all.

They wound up raising James while as close to divorced as they'd ever been and they managed that for fifteen years. Wasn't much point in even discussing the decade and a half between the war and their second son, when they hadn't even acknowledged one another. And then they'd lost the son that brought them back together, Lily, and Harry all in one night.

He'd spent a decade telling Percy that they'd given Harry up to the muggle world for his safety. That Albus was protecting him and Gellert had gone on nothing but his fae husband's word. How could he even think to try and overrule the blasted Scot now?

Maybe it was just seeing Harry so upset?

After all, the twelve year old had been utterly horrified when his friend was hurt. He'd been hysterical before he'd faced that basilisk and, even though it had only been a couple of weeks since he sent the boy back to school… Maybe it was just his natural affinity for bouncing back?

The Headmaster of Hogwarts had been so tired when they firecalled earlier. Of course he was. A night filled with the Ministry and terrified parents; the Board and a freed house elf. Gellert probably wasn't giving him enough credit for covering the spread of their grandson's escapades.

And there was clearly a time differentiation. Harry had sent Hedwig right after he got out of Albus' office from the way it sounded, but his snowy owl hadn't arrived until the Liberator had been ending his conversation with the fire fae. Not to mention the stubborn old lion allowing himself to age so much that it was unhealthy; it was no wonder the man had been about to pass out.

And the stories of Headmaster and student matched almost perfectly…

But, why in the name of Odin hadn't Albus mentioned a book?!

What kind of book could control a basilisk?

Not to mention Harry's question about putting one's self into something. Why would he ask that of an enchanted artifact? He might be twelve, but he'd been in the magical world long enough to know what he was asking about, even if he didn't totally understand something.

Was it something like Newt's case?

A book?

And why hadn't Albus mentioned it?!

He was nibbling on his totem when he ran into the wall he'd married without having realized the vampire even got up, "Rude."

"Gel," He squeezed the smaller man's arms after steadying his seer, "I would have given you that boy when he was fifteen months old. Now, I just need you to tell me that Albus doesn't have this in hand, because that's what you've been saying for the last eleven years, six months and thirty days."

"I…" He took a deep breath, but getting wrapped up in Percy's arms was never a chore and he melted against the man. Glancing up and warily feeling like he weighed a million pounds, the seer confessed only when they met eyes, "I do not think Albus has this."

"Did the world end because you uttered those words? You carry his pride almost as deeply as he does," He reminded before stealing a kiss and moving to go back to his cigar, "Write Harry and tell him to bring Hermione by tomorrow."

Slowly he moved the bronze dragon back and forth on the cobalt blue metal of smooth links that Percy designed for him when the original gold chain from Tanté Hilda broke, before resuming his wandering of the room slowly, "Very well."

The blonde's favorite pen, cast in bronze and marked by a golden Turul danced across the page across the room. While House Grindelwald was marked as a clan by the dragons of their homeland, their national Hungarian pride noted that the aviary symbol had nothing to do with him, and yet Percy still grinned. Even his husband catching him at it was somewhat satisfying.

"Not everything is about you, Precious Prince."

He grinned and probably would have been reddening, if that was something that he could still do, "Sorry."

Humming, the herbologist read over the letter and attached it to Hedwig after addressing the envelope himself, "Make sure he shows, Iggy."

The beautifully decorated owl hooted gently and took off for the open window of their bedroom, breezing right past the blowing curtains of black and pearl. She was far too friendly for an owl, but seemed to run Harry's life, alongside Hermione, with an iron fist. Hopefully an appeal to both would play to their benefit.

"What could that book be?"

"I'll talk to Harry more tomorrow," Percy promised immediately.

"What are you doing?" He demanded when the black pen with an American Turul lifted to start a missive next.

"You think I'm going to miss this? I'm writing myself a note for work and taking tomorrow off," The vampire announced merrily, already pulling his cellphone out and dialing, "Goldstein… Actually, this is personal. I've got Harry coming over tomorrow and need to take the day off."

Gellert could hear the squealing from across the room and wandered over as Percy placated her enough to get off the phone. All it managed to pull out of the seer was a smile before he perched on the bed next to his husband, tracing at the marriage brand that he'd drawn on the man when they got married. The simple black deathly hallows symbol had 'For the Greater Good' just beneath it in his hand and back then the pairing of the two had been just that… Simple.

When his vampire finally hung up and deposited the phone on his nightstand, Gellert's thoughts were still swirling through Harry showing up and seeing him for the first time since the Gryffindor was a baby, to the note and Albus, and onto Percy finally getting home tonight. Letting himself be pulled into the bed and getting tangled up beneath his husband's massive bulk was such a natural inclination that he barely noticed when it happened. There was no doubt that he wanted to make all of this logical; he needed Harry and Albus to be okay.

Percy came up from licking a hickey onto his husband's neck when reading the siren's spiralling thoughts like a Star Wars crawl produced no more information, "Gel…”

Bronze and blue flashed to meet his eyes and the legs around his waist tightened just a bit as the Liberator’s full attention actually came to him, “Hmm?”

“The worst part is over, baby boy,” His promise was quiet, but as sincere as he could possibly be, “You told him how to get here, he knows he can run to you, and he did. He’ll be back tomorrow and we’ll get some answers.”

Where the Director of Security had showered after getting home from work, his hair was free from gel and the curls bounced temptingly until the seer reached up to run his hands through the dark tendrils, “I suppose you’re rig… Wait…”

Rarely did his youngest mate and husband not let himself be dragged into bed as a solution to everything, so Percy took note when he was suddenly forced to sit up as the Liberator jerked similarly. While Gellert had gotten a reputation of being smaller from a century at Percy’s side, the siren was actually six foot and built beautifully himself, even if he didn’t have the same bulk as the vampire’s weight class. So, it wasn’t difficult for the other man to back Percy up when he wanted to, “I didn’t tell him how to get here.”

His dark head tilted curiously, “Huh… Neither did I.”

Gellert collapsed in relief, one arm splayed across his eyes, “Oh, thank the gods. Albus had to tell him.”

“Hmm…” Percy had to admit that was logical. Albus had placed the Fidelius Charm on Nurmengard when they’d taken responsibility for imprisoning Gellert here in order to keep him out of Azkaban. Everyone who knew how to get here found out through one of them, “Or maybe Severus.”

Harry’s father was the only person from Jimmy’s generation who had access to the Boy Who Lived. They hadn’t heard from Remus since the funerals and Andy’s family was in hiding with Harry. It was unlikely that the healer would have told the second year how to get here without warning them, especially after the Whomping Willow incident, house elf or no house elf.

Percy’s son in law and wayward mate were far enough up each other’s asses to offer the information without warning them. He was trying very hard not to be pissed off at the pair for cutting him out after Jimmy died, not because he wasn’t angry, but because he didn’t want Harry to think he had to choose between any of them. Knowing the Gryffindor was familiar with the two and had almost two full years of adventures with them now, he forced himself to take a deep breath, “We’ll ask Harry about it tomorrow.”

“Do you think I’m worried over nothing?” Gellert inquired, letting his husband's wandering hands get lost under the black wife beater that he’d been wearing since the night before.

The vampire didn’t know the answer to that. Their family always had so much going on and it was a melee trying to figure out what was a red flag and what was just magical pupils getting into the typical amount of drama. He just elected to steal a kiss from his husband and slip the seer’s pants off, “I think there’s no harm in kidnapping our grandson for a day to find out. We need to know if he wants to spend the summer here with us anyway.”

“True.”

“Glad we agree,” The vampire’s grin was mostly fangs, “Now, why don’t you relax and let Daddy take your mind off this mess?”

It was a relief being able to finally descend into bed. And Percy would acknowledge that he was a bit more enthusiastic than their norm. After a year and a half of trading letters with Harry, he was chomping at the bit to get a bit of time with the kid who’d finally made it back to the magical world.

Gellert wore the vampire, who’d been at work for the last week and only got home to find out about Harry’s discovery of the Chamber a few hours before, out to the best of his abilities, then he got up to wander. Sleep was a no man’s land for seers and he simply had too much on his mind to even feign the ability, while his husband dying for a few hours in his kind’s simile of sleep was like flipping a switch.

Eventually he wandered back into the common area of the suite downstairs, where his crystal ball was always set up at a corner table. Over the years looking into Albus’ life had just been a natural inclination, even when they were estranged, and it was no challenge to see what the fae was doing at the moment. Fast asleep in Hogwarts and having recovered all of his missing students, as well as being able to produce the basilisk that had been injuring the castle’s occupants, meant that he was able to close out another successful school year at Hogwarts. The next day was the last in May and it was utterly possible that he was worried over nothing.

If that was the case, then he had no doubt that the Head of House Dumbledore would be peeved at him for the lack of faith. Their pridefulness was certainly a trait that had been easily shared in their youth. And, despite their best efforts, it was perfectly possible that it was a weakness neither of them had ever fully conquered.

It didn’t matter how much Albus aged himself up or ignored their married status. There had never been any doubt that he was the love of Gellert’s life and, even at his worst, the Dark Lord never would have let his fae mate come to harm. He’d had a similar mentality concerning Percy, even if spousal abduction hadn’t been the right way to go about ensuring the vampire’s safety. Of all his regrets though, Gellert couldn’t regret loving either of them, and he could endure Albie’s anger if he was wrong.

After watching the white haired fire fae sleep for a few hours, as dawn started to creep above the horizon with a calming effect that no human could achieve, he got up to make breakfast. There was no telling when his grandson would show up, so he made several meals that he could just pop in when the second year arrived, as he hadn’t even gotten to feed Harry the first time he came to Nurmengard. He’d managed to just finish breakfast sandwiches when Hedwig arrived with a response and Percy came wandering in looking like he’d barely managed to pour himself into his boxers.

“Did you sleep at all?”

Gellert shook his head, but grinned at the response from their grandson, “Finals, from which a perturbed Hermione has been excused, end after lunch. He’ll head this way right after with her and Ron.”

Percy hummed, “Who came with him yesterday?”

“Draco was covering for him and I think it was just the twins and Neville who made the trip.”

“Frank’s boy?”

“Yes and Ron’s older brothers,” He perched on the counter, leaving his half eaten sandwich behind him, and twisting a glass of orange juice in hand before taking a sip, “They didn’t come in though. I never actually got to see them.”

“Bunch of younger years,” Percy huffed after swallowing his first bite, “Probably thought they’d end up dangling from the ramparts by their toes.”

Gellert flipped his husband off without an ounce of shame, but couldn't fight a grin at the running joke. He'd been threatening the Scamander brothers with that since the 20's and everyone knew it. It had never been a threat he'd followed through on, but would admit that might not have been the case if he could have caught Theseus after the brat broke Percy out of Nurmengard.

Breakfast was a quiet enough affair with Tina restraining herself to only call once for an update, before she ordered Queenie to firecall from her family business in France to be nosy. Knowing their grandson wasn't arriving for a while, Gellert spent a couple of hours on the fur rug before the fireplace talking to his old friend, while Percy loitered behind them reading the paper. He had to giggle when the witch speculated on what Harry would manage in the teen years.

He supposed that she was right. James would have certainly enjoyed his son's yearly adventures. Where Flea hadn't been able to flee the nest fast enough, his little Jamie had been under Gellert's wing from the time he could walk. With their only son always flying dragons for rescue and aid missions under Percy, their grandson wound up living with him in Nurmengard most of the time, although the boy had tried to go to the Director's apartment in New York every time the man had a moment off. Kid hadn't been able to sit still and no one could deny that he'd been making his own entertainment all twenty one years of his life.

They talked about Gellert's grandson, who was more like a second son, and his great grandson, who had been through more in two short years then a quiet life in the muggle world could have possibly prepared him for. Andy and Ted had to be positively frantic. The previous year had been pretty normal by all accounts, until Quirrell almost got his hands on Harry at the end, but they'd made it through.

This year though?

Rogue house elf! The willow incident! He'd exposed himself as a parselmouth in the middle of Dueling Club with Sev standing ten feet away! And now Harry was running around the Chamber of Secrets slaying basilisks!

Percy had sent a private letter of recommendation for the healer's daughter, who was applying to Britain's Auror Department at the beginning of the school year. They might not have been able to compromise the family's location in the muggle world, but both knew the witch had to be like Harry's big sister, so she was family. And from the stories he'd gotten from Albus back in the metamorphmagus' hay day, Harry got his flare for the dramatic honestly.

Actually, Andy might be handling the ruckus fairly well and just consider Harry a second round. Hard as it was to believe. From the little he'd gathered Nymphadora passed her love of mischief and the Weasley clan right onto their Little Prince.

Eventually though the lunch rush started in the restaurant and bakery behind his friend, so Queenie ended the call to go to work. It was just as well, because they both wanted to change and catch Harry in the garden. Percy was absolutely ecstatic, perhaps for the first time since they lost James, but it just highlighted how hard giving their grandson up had been for a vampire.

As a race, family was everything in the fanged community. Gellert understood that Lily had wanted Harry left with her generation for the boy's benefit, but the decision had hurt James and Percy. Where the Liberator's second son had never gotten to come into his vampire inheritance at twenty-five, he didn't think that Albus' young fire fae daughter ever really understood what separating a nest as close as his husband's line did to them physically, emotionally, or mentally.

Watching the man throw on his favorite jeans and a white button up with onyx American Turuls squaring off across his chest was always tempting. Gellert couldn't help but stare as the Director of Security slicked back his hair and brushed his teeth. The look of Percy at home certainly spoke to his roots, especially when he wandered out to put on his favorite boots and finally noticed the siren's staring, "What?"

Shaking his head with a grin was all he could manage, quickly buttoning up his tan linen pants and straightening out his aqua dress shirt before elaborating, "It's just always a thrill to see your inner cowboy come out."

"Oh, really?" Percy laughed and pulled his husband in for a kiss by a firm hold on the Liberator's backside, "Should I go back to using my accent, cher?"

"Hmm…" A tiny hint of the aforementioned cajun drawl bled into the rich voice that marked most of Isolt Sayre's line and those dark eyes danced with mischief. Gellert stole a kiss before going to get his shoes, "Maybe later."

They got tea and snacks set up in the herbologist and previous terrorist's garden. His husband got lost behind his paper once more and Gellert set to making sure that everything at the table, as well as around the garden, was completely perfect. He wasn't even shocked when Pat Benatar's Invincible sounded off as he trimmed a few plants and adjusted the magic controlling the weather in a few places.

Percy sighed and sat his paper down as the outdoor clock struck one, "Goldstein."

His husband put the conversation on speaker and the aerial fae Percy had adopted after the first World War didn't hesitate to state her purpose, "Have you seen him yet?"

"No, he's got another hour at lunch," The vampire assured, "How's the office?"

"You'd think the Hard Charger was dead from their moping!"

Gellert snorted, but didn't offer anymore commentary as Tina told the Director about their latest cases and daily news. After all, Percy had been in the position since 1890 and everyone was very used to him bearing the brunt of any crisis or case. The Hard Chargette, as Tina had been named after deploying her Scamander mates to free Percy from Nurmengard, was a tried and true substitute. It just wasn't quite the same as knowing the legendary protector of the States was there to come swooping in at the first sign of trouble.

The mismatched father and daughter pair were still talking half an hour later when he finished with the garden. So, Gellert just let them continue and lit a joint on his garden swing. His husband had gotten him the decoration with large cast iron Hungarian Horntails for legs and a large enough cushion for multiple people to take a nap on for their anniversary when Lily had announced that she was pregnant.

New Year's of 1980… It still felt like the day before.

They had a party here in the garden and it had been dark. Instead of his humanely socialized butterflies, there had been a horde of rainbow fireflies lighting up all the flowers, and he could still hear Remus trying not to laugh every time Peter sneezed as his allergies kicked up. They'd lost Flea to dragonpox just a few weeks before, but Lily had literally breathed new life back into the family.

Percy had been so excited. He'd stayed glued to Jamie all night talking about their next generation. And it had worked out well enough as Gellert had convinced Albus to attend the party by pointedly not telling the Headmaster that it was an anniversary bash, so the fire fae spent most of the night with Lily and Sev. The stubbornness of his mates to not have spoken by this day and age was truly unbelievable.

Especially when his husband wasn't subtle. The Hard Charger made every attempt to goad Albus into speaking to him for decades. He'd largely given up after Flea died and throwing in the towel wasn't a glorious enough turn of phrase for his vampire's ire at Albus since they gave Harry up.

"Gel…"

Glancing up from the shade beneath the swing cover, Percy was still at the small outdoor table littered with food and drinks, but he'd also hung up his phone without the seer noticing. Dark eyes like gazing into a black hole returned his study and it struck him that between the vampire's natural legilimency and their mating bond, his lover knew everything he'd been thinking, "Sorry."

"Everything's going to be fine, baby boy. Relax."

And he was given a forced shove into relaxation by the familiar whoosh of a portkey landing just outside the gate of his fortress. Jumping up Gellert moved to rearrange the table one more time, but he wound up pulled into the seat next to his husband and held in place by an arm over the back of his chair. He knew his actions were probably ridiculous, but his nerves felt like there were tap dancers performing a grand finale atop them.

There was a slight groan after the initial sound of a portkey, "...ate those blasted things. Bloody hell!"

Gellert didn't recognize the young boy's voice, but it wasn't Harry.

"Personally, I'm just relieved to make it in one piece."

That had to be Ms. Granger.

"I can't express what your vote of confidence means to me, Mione," Harry muttered, before there was a slight clap of skin on skin, "Come on, Ronikins. Up you go."

"I've been awake for two hours and… Fifteen minutes," The witch noted as the iron gate finally opened, Harry waving his friends through first, and she was a cute little lioness. Her long and voluminous brown hair twisted in cyclones that could challenge even the chaos of the Potter line's locks, but her brown eyes shined like hazelwood as she looked around the garden, "And we're already hedging toward expulsion."

"Come off it, Mione. The twins are covering and no one can outdo them," The tall redhead with piercing blue eyes and a long nose cast his gaze around wildly until he spotted Gellert's magical venus fly trap, the largest of its kind, "Look at this!!"

The trio wandered over and both grown wizards watched them with amused grins, in no hurry to draw attention to themselves. Harry and Hermione seemed content enough to chat while Mr. Weasley found a stick. Immediately the redhead made Gellert recall when Jamie had almost gotten eaten near the same age by doing the exact same thing.

"Neville must have loved this," The lioness noted with a giggle as the garden's butterflies swarmed around the new arrivals, several landing in her hair and one on her nose.

"Ran all the way to the end of his chain and barked," Harry noted sarcastically.

"You should bring him back."

"Maybe," Gellert noted the moment when his grandson and the observant witch spotted the vines of the trap curling up tightly, a sign that the plant was fed up and about to strike. Harry glanced to his left and offered, "I'll shove, you say it was an accident."

She fought to keep the smile off her face and failed, but still shook her head fondly. Harry seemed to accept the answer and stepped up to haul Ron back by his belt, just as the aggressive flower pounced. Its aim was off from the sudden change in the scarlet Gryffindor's position though and only wound up with a hurt nozzle from striking the ground between the second year’s splayed legs.

The ginger stood and dusted himself off, rubbing at a sore backside, "Thanks."

Harry just rolled his eyes, but allowed the taller boy to throw an arm over his shoulders, even as his attention returned to Hermione, "There's always a tried and true solution for rendering him too speechless to expel anyone, but it's in New York."

That finally broke his husband, who busted out laughing, "I'm sure a note will suffice. It always did for your father."

All three heads immediately turned to their corner of the garden, where they’d been heading inside the castle, but Gellert had to admit he didn’t have the words for the way that Harry lit up at the sight of his husband. And Percy was no better. They beamed at one another and their grandson hurried over to the Director of Security like it was Yule.

“Grandpa Percy!”

The vampire didn’t even have to stand up to hug the twelve year old, “Hey, Little Prince. Look at you!”

When Harry finally pulled away, both his hands lingered on the Hard Charger’s shoulders, “What are you doing here?”

“Decided to spend the day at home when I heard you were coming over,” Percy dismissed, but Harry’s head tilted curiously.

“I thought you lived in New York.”

“Only when Grandpa Gel is bad,” His husband teased, earning an eye roll from the seer next to him.

Harry’s head tilted though, before he glanced over his shoulder to Ron, where the little Weasley and witch had wandered over right behind their grandson. When he finally turned back to Percy, his nose scrunched up just like Lily’s used to when she was curious about something, “How does that work with the whole ‘hostage for two decades’ thing?”

That made the Liberator flinch, because of course Harry knew. Didn’t mean he wanted the worst decisions of his life to color the moment. It helped that Percy just laughed it off though.

“Well, we were separated for three decades after that,” He explained with a shrug, “But there isn’t much you can’t overcome with a good mind healer and time. Now, introduce us to your friends.”

Harry went through a quick spill of introducing them to his best friends and Gellert ushered everyone to sit down. Instantly the previous Dark Lord held a certain affection for Ron's love of food and Percy was about ready to adopt Hermione after the first ten minutes of talking to the muggle born witch. Both were good friends from what they could tell and it didn’t take long after the lioness discussed her recovery from being petrified that the Hard Charger’s attention turned to exactly what happened in the Chamber of Secrets.

It was largely the same story that Albus had spun the day before. A student had been possessed to use the spell in the Chamber and summoned a basilisk. Harry had been looking for the place all year and they finally found it when Ginny, Ron’s little sister, disappeared. And when the basilisk turned on Harry, Fawkes came to save him.

The problem was that Albus apparently hadn’t deemed it necessary to mention who had been possessing the youngest Weasley. Harry barely got out ‘Tom Riddle’s diary’ before Percy lost his proverbial shit and declared that their grandson wasn’t going back across their mating bond. Gellert did everything he could to keep the vampire calm enough to prevent a murder and luckily enough Harry distracted himself with Lockheart’s part of the caper.

It gave the Hard Charger that moment he needed to take a deep breath. Rage was a vampire’s constant companion and he was pissed, but Harry had no business bearing the brunt of that ire. When he was calm enough to interject it was to clarify, "The same Lockheart who pulled you in front of the cameras last summer?"

"Yeah, he's been our teacher this year," Harry answered quickly, though it was Ron taking over to elaborate about his broken wand and what happened there.

"Hmm… How's that gone?"

Hermione sniffed delicately, "He might be attractive, but I've seen muggles more competent with magic than that half-wit."

Both grown wizards busted out laughing at that.

Ron snorted and agreed though, "Don't know how he got hired anyway. Maybe we'll have better luck next year."

"Nope," Harry cut him off instantly, "After the last two years, if I never have a conversation with our next Defense professor, it would be too soon."

"Aww, bud," Percy ruffled his hair where Harry wound up next next to him, while Hermione was next to Gellert, and Ron was in the middle between his friends, "I know it's been a rough couple of years."

"It's been a bloody hell is what it's been," Harry muttered, "And the Flaming Flamingo is no help. Twinkly eyed tosser."

"Harry," Hermione scolded with a look, although it didn't seem to dissuade him in the slightest.

Percy just chuckled, "And what does Gabby have to say about all this?"

That got the Director of Security a funny look from all three second years.

"Who?"

The vampire grinned and waved the Boy Who Lived off, “I meant Grandpa Abby. You called him Gabby as a baby.”

“Oh, how cute,” Hermione declared, before brown eyes shot up to Gellert, “Did Harry have nicknames for the two of you?”

“Yes, he called me ‘Nagyi’ and this one was ‘Pèpe’,” Gellert offered.

“Aww!”

Harry glared at her, but the witch only grinned unperturbed, so after a moment he rolled his eyes and moved to address the original question, “Just that it was nice to know his brother hasn’t gained any real utility and to keep in mind that, as of next year, at least I can drink.”

“Have you seen him since the Chamber?” Percy queried, curious if his best friend knew about the diary at the very least.

“No, haven’t had the chance and tonight’s date night…”

Ron snorted, “No reason to serve ourselves to McGonagall on a silver platter.”

“...We’ll probably try to go by there tomorrow,” Harry finished with a small huff.

Across their bond, Percy was curious for his nephew's reaction to the year and it was no shock when the Hard Charger barreled right on demanding, "What does Severus think about Lockheart?"

Every muscle in Harry's body went tense and Percy could feel it where he had an arm draped across the back of his chair. The siren felt it across their mating bond. And meeting confused glances was just their natural inclination.

Ron didn't seem to notice though, "The one time he made himself useful."

Hermione hummed, "Professor Snape thinks little of Lockheart. They were responsible for co-hosting Dueling Club and he seemed to take exceptional pleasure in showing just how incompetent the instructor was."

"Can't say I'm surprised," The Liberator noted, "After all, he was second only to Jamie in their class of duelists."

Percy glanced at their grandson, "Was that the same day that you showed off your parselmouth skills."

Harry nodded and flushed bright red.

“Hmm... “ Gellert saw the opening and went for it, “Why don’t you let Pèpe take Ron and Hermione back before dinner, then you can stay with us for the night?”

“Umm… Well, I was supposed to meet up with Fawkes tonight…”

Hermione’s snort was indignant, “What’s it going to do? Kill him?”

Percy threw his head back and laughed at that one, “You can see him tomorrow. Come on, son, we haven’t seen you in over a decade.”

“Alright,” Harry agreed slowly and Gellert got the distinct impression that he was trying to think of a way out of it.

If the boy was supposed to meet up with Fawkes, then that probably meant Albus was supposed to be there. So, he hurried to assure the second year, “Don’t worry, darling. I’ll make sure that Grandpa Albus knows you’re here.”

“Did Harry have a nickname for the Headmaster as well?”

This time Harry didn’t hide his glare, “Mione, if you miss the Hospital Wing that much, all you had to do was say so.”

She waved him all and was still looking at Gellert expectantly.

“He called him ‘Gingy’.”

Ron busted out laughing, “That is beautiful.”

“Shut it,” Harry ordered.

The other boy had gotten a bad case of the giggles though and couldn't seem to stop, "You had pet names for the Liberator, Hard Charger, and Elder Wand Conqueror!"

"If you go telling anyone about this…"

"Who would believe me?!"

Gellert saw the light that flashed in Harry's emerald eyes and recognized it all too well. Percy and Severus often got the same look when they had someone right where they wanted them, "I'm sure your mother would find it adorable. Especially how you found out."

They all heard the moment the second year's mouth snapped shut, before he insisted, "Fine! Fine! No reason to get nasty about it."

"Percy, why don't you get them moving back. It's almost dinner time."

That much was true. They'd been talking for several hours at that point and it was high time the other kids got back to school. His husband agreed and it didn't even take ten minutes to get them a note signed and sealed from Percy to the Headmaster. Gellert knew it was a little sassier than it needed to be, but overall the professionalism his husband achieved was a testament to the vampire's sense of discipline.

Harry hugged his friends good bye and wrote his own note for Hermione to pass onto Draco. Despite the sordid history surrounding Cissy and her marriage, Gellert was glad that his and Vinda's grandchildren had found one another. The fact that he was coming to the check-in with Fawkes and Albus after the previous day made the seer smile. Vinda wouldn't have let him out of her sight after a close call like that either.

Once Percy disappeared with the other lions, Gellert led Harry into the castle to start dinner, and he tried to pry a little more into the tension with Severus, "So, how badly did your father beat up Lockheart?"

Confusing the absolute shit out of him was how Harry relaxed now and beamed up at Gellert when he answered, "Pretty bad. It would have been sad, if it wasn't so hilarious."

"That much I believe," He allowed slowly, not wanting to let on just how perplexed he was, "What did he think of your little excursion in the Chamber?"

"Umm…" Harry's head tilted and he confessed willingly enough, "Actually, we haven't exactly talked since."

That made the previous Dark Lord laugh, "You can't avoid him forever, you know?"

"You have no idea," Harry muttered.

By then they'd made it upstairs into the kitchen and Gellert let him hop up on the kitchen counter so that they could keep talking, before he got the boy a butterbeer, "What does that mean?"

He pulled a beer for himself, the suspicion rising into the back of his neck that he was going to need it by the end of this.

The twelve year old studied him for the longest time and Gellert just looked right back. Whatever Harry was looking for he must have found it, because eventually the Gryffindor elaborated, "He's the one avoiding me. So, it doesn't really take that much effort."

Few things got to Severus. 

Harry facing down the man who murdered the thirty-two year old vampire's mates in cold blood for the second time in as many years? The bastard having control of a basilisk that could be sicked on his only son? On top of not being able to comfort the boy publicly?

It was no wonder Percy's nephew was a mess. That didn't mean he wanted Harry to think the Potions Master's ire was truly directed at him, "I'm sure he'll calm down, darling. He was probably scared half to death."

"Yeah," The Gryffindor agreed slowly.

He learned that Harry liked pasta, so that's what he set about making as they continued to talk. There was so much to learn about the boy who was good friends with pretty much everyone. Though he did confess that he and Draco played into the house rivalry schtick a bit too much for laughs.

Percy got back just a bit after seven and got himself a drink before settling against the counter next to Harry, taking over the majority of the conversation. When he asked the boy more probing questions about the diary it warranted far greater enthusiasm from their grandson then the conversation about his father. They knew from a year and a half of letters that he wanted to be an auror, but his excitement over all things concerning Percy's profession was palpable.

Given that he'd faced the artifact down, the Director of Security didn't feel the need to keep him in the dark about the possibilities, and Harry was hanging on every word. Gellert was trying not to get nauseous. He'd already lost two sons from their following Percy into MACUSA and he couldn't handle losing Harry too.

"...ble to control the creature, then he had to have access to channelling magic, and that requires a soul," Percy hissed and admitted, "There's a process for putting one's soul into an artifact, but it's dark and dangerous."

"You can put your whole soul into something?" Harry demanded, "Like a dementor's kiss?"

"No, this process splits the soul into pieces," He shrugged, "The merger of soul and artifact is called a horcrux."

"Woah… Could you do it to a living thing? Like an animal?"

"Hmm… Perhaps, but it would be much more complicated."

“Alright, let’s move this very educational discussion to the table, boys,” He encouraged once everything was set up. Harry bounced down from the counter and was heeled right at his husband's side as they kept talking. Most shocking of the whole affair was how quiet it wound up being.

They spoke about horcruxes through most of the meal and Gellert did throw in a few questions about finals when he got an opening. Harry was obviously very close to his friend, Hagrid, and the second year was absolutely ecstatic about the half-giant’s return the next day. He’d been irate when the man was arrested and both of the older wizards were glad that his showdown with Riddle in the Chamber brought about a lot of good outcomes, even if they would have preferred another solution.

As the night progressed Harry became more talkative. When the subject turned to Quidditch he was damn near about to float off without a broom and Percy promised to come to his games the next year. Gellert explained that he’d been offered a probation term, of sorts, through Theseus Scamander and swore to be there as well.

By the time they finished eating and laughing it was getting late and the siren insisted that they go upstairs, so he could transfigure his grandson something to sleep in. The Gryffindor was still trailing along behind them talking about Dueling Club with Percy, before suddenly his voice faded away when they got to the top floor, even though it took the pair a moment to notice. When they turned around he had wandered over to a door that neither had entered in years, the seasoned oak’s only marker of differentiation from the other bedroom doors was a large golden ‘M’ stylized in a bold and heavy script, which Harry was running his hand over.

“What’s this room?”

Percy had untucked his shirt, but wasn’t truly in a rush as he wandered back over, “That was your dad’s old suite. Needed more room after he started bringing his friends home.”

“Why an ‘M’?”

Gellert huffed, “They called themselves ‘The Marauders’. You can go in, darling.”

Harry didn’t open the door immediately though and instead his sights flew to the husbands, "The Marauders?! Dad made the map?!"

"Come across that, have you?" Percy had to chuckle, "Yes, it was his grand creation back in the day."

By then Harry was opening the door and hurrying into the common room of Jamie's old suite. Gellert had to admit that his stomach clenched when they followed the Gryffindor inside and he was grateful for his mate grabbing his hand. The place was still clean from all the magical preservation spells surrounding Nurmengard and it was clear that Harry was mesmerized by the moving pictures that lined every wall and surface of the living area they entered.

There were two Jack and Jill suites, as he explained to the Boy Who Lived, every room decorated for the Marauder who'd lived there. Stopping by the mahogany coffee table, Harry picked up one of the pictures and Percy moved to set the stage a bit, as the vampire sunk down on a beige sofa near him, "That was at the start of their third year. The taller blonde is Remus, and the little one is Peter, and…"

His husband's voice was so sad as he watched his godson place a sloppy kiss on Jamie's cheek in the picture, where he was hanging on both their son and Remus, "...That's Sirius."

"That's Sirius Black?" Harry brought the picture closer and ran his thumb over Orion's oldest son, who had just been growing out the shaggy hair that he'd worn even after being named Head Auror, his curls bouncing as he kissed James. The train was whistling behind them and the twelve year old was mesmerized.

"Yes," Gellert took over, able to feel his husband's turmoil, "Have you ever seen him before?"

"Only… Only in the newspaper, when I looked up that night."

The siren flinched, but put a hand on Harry's shoulder, "Aunt Andy probably didn't want to upset you."

Big green eyes finally broke from the picture and shot up to him, "Who?"

Obsidian, blue, and bronze eyes met glances, before Gellert looked back down at him, "Your Aunt Andromeda?"

"I've never met a person with that name in my life," Harry noted curtly, before his attention went back down to the picture.

All while the married couple hadn't been so confused in their lives. The only benefit to the shock was that it booted Percy from his mood and he leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees to look up at the second year, "Harry, who do you live with?"

He looked at both of them like they were crazy, "My Aunt Petunia and her family."

Gellert mouthed the name at his husband, but he saw the moment the answer must have struck the vampire.

"Little Copper's muggle sister?"

Harry glanced at him before putting the picture down, "If that refers to Mum, then yes."

They conversed silently across the bond for a moment as the second year explored all the other pictures around the room and the bedrooms. Albus had clearly changed the plan after Sirius’ betrayal and that wasn’t a shock, not truly. But, when Severus had refused to back Percy in a custody dispute, after Albus had already placed the boy in the muggle world, the younger vampire had most certainly told them that Harry was with Andromeda and her family. It was the lie that had both of them angered.

It was fortunate that his husband had a few minutes to calm down before their grandson returned. And when he did the Hard Charger was quick to expand their new knowledge of Harry’s life prior to Hogwarts, “If they’re muggles, I’m guessing they couldn’t prepare you for the magical world very well.”

The Boy Who Lived snorted, “They didn’t even tell me magic existed. I thought Mum and Dad died in a car crash until I was eleven; she told me that Dad was drunk.”

Percy got so enraged his fangs elongated and Gellert put together instantly that Harry had to have a fae inheritance from Lily, because there was no doubt that he felt the change from the way he jumped. With the boy’s natural empathy rattled from the vampire’s rage, the Liberator pulled him in close and waited for Harry to look up at him, “Your father never drove inebriated in his life. I can promise you that.”

“Yeah, so I put together,” His voice was a little weary, but they still needed to know more.

“Did they tell you anything else about them?”

“No,” Harry confessed, “I didn’t even know what they looked like until I found the mirror of Erised.”

“Is that why Hagrid was making you a photo album?” Gellert finally put it together. When Albus had first contacted him for the groundskeeper, it had just seemed like a nice present, but now it had a darker tone. A year ago, the biggest challenge had been finding pictures of James that Sirius wasn’t in.

“Yeah.”

“Harry, come here,” Percy ordered as he rose from the couch. Harry went willingly enough and he pulled the twelve year old into a hug, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I just… Even if they were trying to protect you from the magical world, that was never something you should have been told.”

“I know,” Gellert watched his arms tighten around the vampire and his husband relaxed at the gesture.

“Come on,” The Director encouraged, “Let’s go and get into pajamas.”

“Did you know anything about the magical world?” The seer probed as he shut the door to the suite behind the pair.

“Not a clue,” Harry acknowledged, “My aunt and uncle tried to stop me from reading my letter and I only got to because Hagrid showed up on my birthday to take me school shopping. Then I got Mum and Dad’s letters, but it still took me a term to get my head above water.”

“I should say so,” The Liberator noted.

Percy was pulling his boots and shirt off the moment they got into the bedroom, while his husband set himself to transfiguring something for Harry, “No wonder it took you until Yule to get in touch.”

“Woah,” Harry exclaimed when the man’s shirt came off, “You have tattoos!”

Laughter bubbled out of him and he sat down on the bed so that the boy could have a better look. Though everything he’d ever branded himself with could be covered by a shirt, there was no doubt that he was covered from collarbone to hip, as well as shoulder to forearm, “Yes, just a few.”

Gellert snorted.

Harry took all the brands in quickly. There was a large wampus with a horned serpent coiled around it on the Hard Charger’s back and an American Turul on his pecs with the Potter family words beneath them. The magical cat represented Percy’s school house and animagus form; it looked like a large black cougar about a third bigger than the average tiger. And the silver serpent decorated with emerald ancient runes represented his twin sister; Harry’s Aunt Isolt. Of course, the breed of turul that looked like an onyx eagle represented his mother’s family and the name he’d used since becoming an auror, House Graves. All of this was news to Harry, but he was familiar with their family words.

Death does not negotiate. Nor do we.

When he got done looking at the two largest of Percy’s tattoos, his attention turned to the smaller brands that marked his biceps and forearms, but by then he’d lost his shoes and sunk onto the bed with his grandfather. The vampire confessed that he probably would have put the wartime brands on his shoulders, if the wings of the turul tattoo didn’t soar upward to cover them. Still, on his right bicep was a thunderbird sparkling with silver blue electricity and it had four wands staggered above and below it, while on his left was a witch’s old fashioned fan composed of different magical aviary feathers.

Harry ran his hand over the black American Turul feather in the center, where it was locked with a thunderbird feather of golden brown and a Tocha Kachina feather of rainbow like colors, “Why a thunderbird?”

“I was a pilot for the Fiftieth Thunderbird Brigade and my best friend was the Commanding Officer; it was his school house,” He pointed to the very first wand atop the brand, “That was the wand of Tina’s father and I got that when we lost him in the first World War.”

“Woah.”

“And I got this after being rescued with Theseus during Project Ancient Rune,” He explained of the fan, “I was the CO on that one, but Mat was still right there beside me.”

Harry nodded at understanding why that particular magical bird kept on popping up, before his attention turned downward to Percy’s forearms. When he’d had a moment to take in the pyramid on the vampire’s left arm, with ‘Always Stay Vigilant’ about every face, in addition to the deer antlers on top and the wampus tail coming out of the bottom, he finally revealed, “Your dad had one just like it.”

“Really?! Dad had tattoos?!”

Percy chuckled, “Yes. Two of them. Probably would have gotten more eventually, but…”

He just trailed off and Harry nodded, curious fingers delicately running over the inked skin, “Why antlers?”

Huffing, he had to admit, “A stag was his spirit animal, so to speak. Along with an American Turul, which is what I made his totem represent.”

Harry grinned, “I know.”

Percy was confused until the boy pulled a leather tether from underneath his school uniform. Hanging from it were two totems; one was an tungsten American Turul with a white gold deathly hallows emblazoned on the breast and diamonds for eyes, while the other was a lion in gold with rubies for eyes and inside the roaring mouth. He shared a look with his husband and asked Harry if he could see the markers of Jimmy and Little Copper’s adulthood. It was the jewelry that gave their marriage vows meaning, along with Sev’s, but everyone thought they’d been taken the night the kids were killed.

Harry quickly explained that the totems became his parents’ letters, before refocusing on the tattoo, “When did you get it?”

“When he was eighteen and came to work for me at MACUSA,” He handed out the information absentmindedly, just staring at the only piece of jewelry his second son ever wore.

“What else did he have?”

The Director of Security debated for a moment whether or not to reveal that story.

Harry sensed this and studied him intrigued.

And Gellert laughed, handing the twelve year old his transfigured pajamas, even as he eyed his husband, “You may as well.”

So, while Harry was changing too, Percy traded in his jeans for sweatpants and explained, “Well, at fourteen he snuck out to get a lion on his shoulder that matches Grandpa Albus’ Gryffindor brand, alongside all the other Marauders.”

Harry had just finished trading in his school uniform for a blue silk set that Gellert hadn’t worn in years and he spun on his heels to stare at his vampire grandfather utterly flabbergasted, “He has tattoos?!”

That made the vampire laugh and he patted the bed where he’d just plopped down against the pillows, so Harry would join him, “Not that I’ve ever been able to verify personally, mind you. It’s all hearsay and according to Nagyi.”

Slowly during dinner Harry had started picking up the terms again, following their example when they used them as they referred to one another for him, and Gellert was quite pleased with the change. Jamie had always called him ‘Mum’ and his son using the Hungarian word for a grandmother made him happier than words could express. Where he was changing into his favorite set of red pajama pants, it made the previous Dark Lord laugh when his grandson whipped around to look at him next.

“He’s kidding, right?!” Harry demanded, “The Flaming Flamingo has tattoos?”

“Yes,” Gellert chuckled, “Four the last time I saw them myself. Of course, all these years later, he could have easily gained or lost a few of them.”

“Merlin’s bloody ball sack!”

The siren finished changing and joined them on Harry’s otherside, “It’s not an announcement for the whole school.”

“Ron’s right,” He declared, serious as could be, “Who would believe me!?”

Gellert rolled his eyes, but didn’t carry that vein of conversation further, and instead just put the necklace housing Harry’s lost parents’ totems back on him.

“What about that one?”

Where Percy was cutting himself a cigar, it took him a minute to realize that they’d come full circle back to his last remaining brand on his right forearm. Gellert cut him a warning look when he went to light the cigar in bed, as he did every night, so with an eye roll he stood to go over to the window seat, but he offered up a better visual of the tattoo first, “It’s my marriage totem.”

Harry’s nose scrunched up like a little bunny and he looked back and forth between the bronze horntail resting on Gellert’s white wife beater and the tattoo, “Ron told me how totems work, but…”

His blonde grandfather moved to elaborate, while the Hard Charger sunk down in the window seat and opened it, “Pèpe and Gingy are both Catholic. They don’t follow in the tradition of totems like most pagan worshippers do and back in my younger years the tradition was to draw a marriage totem, rather than using cheaper and less personal jewelry, in such a case."

"Did you use the same thing for him?"

Knowing he meant Albus, the siren just nodded. They'd married before the current Headmaster graduated, after his mate let him take the Triwizard Cup, the year before Gellert was expelled. Most forgot that their story didn't actually begin in Godric's Hollow, but by competing against one another and going to the Yule Ball together.

"Do you have any tattoos?"

"No, just a few scar arts."

Harry's head tilted and he turned to face Gellert, propping up on his knees after tucking his legs underneath him, "What's that?"

Rather than trying to explain, Gellert just sat up and off the side of the bed, pulling the back of his shirt up to let Harry see. Flying in a triangle around his back were a turul, phoenix, and dragon. Each of them were created by thin white lines and given dimension by the varying depths of the scars. He didn't move right away and wasn't surprised when Harry's small hand ran across them.

Only when the boy moved away did he let the shirt fall and reclined back against the pillows. It wasn't even a surprise when the emerald eyed second year asked what happened and Gellert draped an arm over his shoulders before moving to explain, "My father, like most of his generation, objected to his heir taking up with male mates. He had me whipped before sending me back to Durmstrang as a punishment the year I was expelled."

"I'm so sorry, Nagyi."

"It was a very long time ago, darling."

"He's dead now, thank Mary and Morgana," Percy put in with a voice both sincere and dry as firewood.

"Oh, Percy."

Harry giggled a bit, before his nose wrinkled once more and his gaze drifted back up to the Liberator, "Do you think I could have them done?"

"Hmm… It's certainly the most unique scar in our world. We'd have to ask a specialist," Gellert put forth, running his point finger gingerly across the lightning bolt scar, but offered quickly, "I'm sure Pèpe's friend Rhys would take a look at it though."

Harry nodded slowly, "Right."

"We could always have him take a look, if you stay here this summer," Percy offered, blowing smoke rings out the window.

"Really?! How long can I stay?"

"As long as you want, Little Prince," Gellert promised, "I'm tempted not to let you go back for the next week."

Harry laughed and relaxed further against him, "Can you pick me up from the train, Pèpe?"

"Of course, son. Just let your aunt and uncle know."

"I will!"

They chatted about the potential plans for their summer together and determined that they would also need to get Harry an inheritance test done. Poor boy had no idea how many magical races had passed their genes through his family tree and was overwhelmed by the sheer number of things he could be on top of a wizard. Gellert did explain the likelihood that he was a fae though, because of the unnamed bouts of empathy that Harry hadn't been able to explain, but that the experienced wizards had easily spotted.

Percy put in that it was likely he had a vampire inheritance too, since he came from two incomparable lines in the Graves and Prince families, commenting that both were even descendants of the same asshole. Harry was confused by the comment, but Gellert just explained that his husband and the vampire's father were in the midst of a near century long snit, before changing the subject. There was no reason to expose Harry to that mess on the day they put eyes on him.

"When did Grandpa Albus finally tell you how to get here, darling?"

"He didn't," Harry dismissed easily.

"Hmm… Your father, then?"

"Nope, I just figured it out."

They locked sights again and Percy took over smoothly, where Harry was currently laid out on Gellert like the once terrorist was his own personal pillow, "You can't just figure out where Nurmengard is, son. What happened, exactly?"

Though he didn't look like he wanted to, the Gryffindor rolled over to explain, "I really needed an adult and, as previously established, the bumbling bumblebee is useless. And… I don't know. It was like watching something on TV, but exhausting. Then I got a nose bleed and was able to get here."

Both of them knew instantly what that meant and weren't very shocked. Something similar had happened to James when he was nearing fourteen and Gellert had long been a class of seer all his own, "Well, darling, it looks like you've got a siren inheritance too. That's a very powerful trifecta."

Harry came back to cuddle willingly enough and they talked for a while about how the last wizard to have three inheritances had been James. No other had ever been recorded. It certainly made their Little Prince a power house.

As the clock was nearing eleven and Gellert was about to suggest the Gryffindor get moving to his own room next door, a huge bout of thunder shook the castle and the room flashed white for a moment as the bottom dropped out beyond the window. Harry jumped several inches off the bed and flipped around to look outside bug-eyed, while the siren was quick to promise him that it was just a typical mountain storm. Rubbing the boy's back didn't help Percy, who'd had his cigar hanging out the window to get rained on.

"Fait chier!"

"Language," Gellert scolded right away.

"French at the moment," Was his husband's smart reply as he tried to save his cigar, the declaration making Harry giggle. Percy just rolled his eyes and gestured to his nightstand, letting his husband flip him off behind Harry's back, "Hand me that lighter, Little Prince."

Willingly enough he bounced off the bed to grab the gold and tungsten lighter with a turul of each metal touching beaks, before noticing the picture on the Hard Charger's nightstand, "Who's this?"

When Harry came over and gave him the lighter, Percy let him perch on the window seat too, and the image made him smile. James and Sirius had only been four when they went to New York to see the fireworks. His son was standing on his feet and Percy had the little boy in a one arm hug as they grinned at the camera, while the vampire's other arm was slung around his best friend, who had his oldest in the same position, "That's Grandpa Orion."

Harry studied the older man with green eyes and a bright smile for a few minutes, but then his attention wandered downward. Sirius had his hair gelled back constantly in those days and the second year seemed to be deep in thought as he took in the young boy standing on his father's feet and hanging onto Ori's arm with both hands, "Why'd he do it?"

The question was asked so quietly that Percy almost missed it, even with vampire hearing. Realizing what his grandson was asking though, he put the cigar out on the stone wall before pulling Harry back against him, "Things got very complicated after… How much has Gabby told you about Walburga Black?"

"Just that Grandpa was forced into a marriage contract with her."

"Well, your friend Draco's mother was forced into the same thing with Lucius Malfoy," Percy disclosed, "But, her mate was Sirius Black."

Harry looked up at him listening intently, so he continued.

"Marriage contracts like that can be broken by naturally conceiving a child with someone else, but Sirius and Narcissa couldn't try for a child, because he was your parents' secret keeper," Percy sighed and took the picture to just stare at the two boys for a moment, before finishing, "When she conceived Draco, he became resentful and turned to the Dark Lord for revenge."

When he looked back at Harry though, the boy's green eyes were slits and he was glancing back and forth between the vampire and his husband. Finally he settled on Percy again and insisted, "Draco's his son though!"

Both adults froze when they locked sights, then Gellert slowly sat up in bed, "Harry, why would you say that?"

Rather than answering right away, Harry pressed the ruby gem eyes of his mother's totem in and when the ruby in the mouth floated out a folded piece of paper followed it. He handed it over to Percy, which had Gellert ever grateful for their mating bond as he could see the heritage potion results clear as day across it, proclaiming that Sirius was the father to Cissy's son. Their world realigned in a moment, but the vampire quickly told his husband to keep his mouth shut.

"Huh. When did you get this?"

"Right after Yule we brewed the potion in class. Draco got upset and I followed him to the bathroom, but we didn't tell anyone… We didn't know how to."

"No, I imagine it was quite a shock," He allowed, folding the piece of paper to keep, "But, Nagyi is close to his mother. We'll summon her tomorrow and have this sorted by the time you boys get off the train."

"That's it?" Harry questioned, shocked by how well the pair took the news.

"Of course. I'll go by and find out Sirius' real motivations after I drop you off," Percy promised, before making a show of eying the clock, "It's getting late. You best get to bed."

Right on time the Gryffindor yawned and Gellert was quick to take him to his room, after Percy got a hug goodnight, of course. Once the door to the next room shut, he immediately summoned his cellphone from the nightstand and hit one on its speed dial. They were going to have to move quickly.

"Percy?"

"Put in a letter of resignation for me," He ordered, "Make sure it's in by midnight and marked for today."

"Percy…"

"Have Theseus get me full clearance at the Ministry," He continued without letting his adopted daughter get another word in, "Make sure it's done by tomorrow. If he has to use that contract they offered me for a Director position, so be it."

"Percy!"

"Have him put through that probation deal for Gellert; I need him to be able to get to Harry at Hogwarts if I can't and it said he could travel on Albus' presence the same as mine," He sighed and played with the tungsten turul ring that encompassed his ring finger, the diamond eyes always seeming to appraise him, "I'm dropping Harry off at 6:45 and he best meet me at Azkaban by 7 without fail."

"Percival Graves!" Tina finally yelled and he didn't respond, but his silence was all she needed, "What in the hallelujah is going on?!"

"I'll explain tomorrow."

He hung up before she could respond and he got up to wander over to their jewelry box, the note thrown unceremoniously onto his night stand. There was no telling how long he stood there after opening the top, but one thing was for sure. The only scenario in which his godson would have betrayed Jimmy was the one he told Harry.

Finally, he took the marker of his mother's familial power and moved it to his middle finger, then he put the Potter lordship ring in its place. He hadn't been able to wear the fucking thing since taking it off Jimmy in Godric's Hollow, but if he was going to be working in Europe it was necessary. The gold band turned into the triangle of a deathly hallows symbol atop his finger, while inside of it the stone was tungsten, and the wand a line of white gold, while tiny diamonds filled in space between all the shapes. While he'd never gotten to meet his father, Percival Potter, there was no denying the power of the family's seat.

If Sirius and Cissy were trying for a baby, then he'd be damned if that boy was a Death Eater.

Albus and his own nephew had lied to him about where Harry was. The twelve year old had faced down a horcrux. And now this.

If he had to show his ass all across Europe, so be it, but this madness had just been given a forceful shove into over.

“Perce?”

“Write Cissy and tell her to come over here tomorrow. You said she just had another baby, right? Tell her to bring them,” There was no way that Gellert would let that baby be considered illegitimate, if the girl’s marriage was null and void. After all, Cissy was Vinda’s granddaughter, “Give your deepest regrets that the wards won’t let her husband in and promise to get it fixed for next time, then keep her here after you show her the results.”

“Perce…” He sighed and crawled into bed, even as his pen started moving at their desk of its own accord, “Harry got the map out to check on his friends.”

“And?”

“Peter Pettigrew was asleep in Ron’s bed.”

“What?!”

Gellert sighed and confessed, “We got to talking and… Do you remember the nicknames they had for each other? Remus was Moony, and James was Prongs, like a stag, and Sirius was Padfoot, like a dog, and… Well, Ron has a pet rat that Harry confirmed sleeps with him… And has a missing toe.”

“Wormtail,” Percy growled, before shaking his head, “No, Jimmy would have told me. He would have.”

“What if it was a joke?” The seer demanded, “What if…”

Silence rang for the longest of moments, before the Liberator was relieved that he’d put up a silencing barrier.

“God damn it all straight to hell!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you in a couple days! <3


	3. Chapter 3

After a twelve hour crash, Albus felt like a whole new person. The previous day had been a beast, but finally everyone was safe and the culprit of the year’s attacks snuffed out. He had a long talk with Severus and they’d agreed that Malfoy was probably as guilty as Harry suspected, but at the moment there was nothing they could actually hold against the man.

Still, he’d hired the Gryffindor’s house elf friend, Dobby, Ginny was back from specialist observation at St. Mungo’s, and within an hour of breakfast ending all of the petrified basilisk victims were revived. Watching Ms. Granger’s serious objections to being excused from her second year exams brought the biggest smile to his face, but eventually Harry and Ron led her from the office with eye rolls when Minerva was unmoved. At lunch he watched Sir Nicholas make his grand return to the Gryffindor table, along with Hermione, and the hall was alive with excitement for the others who’d been revived as well.

With only Hagrid left to return the next day, he was finally able to breathe as they sat down at lunch, Minerva ever to his right and Sev to his left. His son had been silent as the grave since Harry’s incident in the Chamber and he couldn’t blame the young vampire. Where James antics had all been in good fun, their son tended toward fatal encounters like nifflers did the shiny. It still hurt him to see his son’s aura tainted with the vibrant orange of stress, worry, and anxiety, while knowing bloody well that there was nothing he could do to relieve it.

He’d tried using his empathy to infuse the man with calm, but it never lasted long.

“Have you spoken to Hagrid?”

He hummed and confirmed for the witch, “Briefly. He’s spending a night in St. Mungo’s and will be back tomorrow.”

“Has anyone told him that?”

His gaze swung to Harry and his friends at the lions’ table. He had closed rank with Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and the twins, all of them discussing something. Albus had to keep him in the dark about what he’d faced, until he could find the other horcruxes that Tom had made, but it was getting more and more difficult every day. Despite Severus giving the boy hell in Potions, he had perfect marks in his other subjects, and, unlike Ms. Granger, it wasn’t because he was studious; it was just sheer talent.

That reminded him so much of his daughter. And Lily hadn’t taken much interest in the politics of the magical world until she’d been returned to the family in ‘74. At least it meant that he’d have a couple more years before Harry took a larger interest in taking on the world; God willing.

“No, but this is Hogwarts,” The Headmaster noted, “I’m sure he’ll know within the hour.”

“We have to find them,” Severus finally murmured, watching as his son and the child’s friends took off to explore.

“Find what?”

Minerva didn’t know anything about the horcruxes and he wasn’t much gunning to tell her now.

It was the final Hogsmeade weekend of the year for their older students, but their first and second years were bound to have plenty of fun exploring the grounds on such a pleasant day. All that was left was to issue redo exams for students who had failed and that wouldn’t begin for two days, so there was time. Watching the band of lions leave prompted many other students to head out as well and that meant his staff on grounds duty moved to follow.

“Perhaps,” Albus suggested as he rose up from his seat, “We should get to work on that, then.”

Both professors followed him back to his office, his best friend merely rolling her eyes as she trailed along behind them, usually accepting fairly well that there were some things Albus didn’t tell her, “You know what would help this entire situation move right along?”

“Don’t start, Min,” He instructed as they rode a moving staircase up to the fourth floor.

“You could both talk to him,” The witch insisted, stressing the verb, “Then, you could talk to your brother. And, my God, do we even dare say it? You could talk to Percival Graves. Just imagine!”

“You know it’s not that simple,” Sev put in tersely.

“He has had two run-ins with You Know Who in as many years!” She insisted, marching up the stairs behind them when the gargoyle let them in, “The family aren’t the ones that he needs protection from!”

“What are we supposed to do, Minerva?” His son demanded, dropping down into the window seat, “Tell him that I’m his father, then wait for the Dark Lord to show up again and find out?”

“The target on his back isn’t minimized by his ignorance!”

Fawkes screeched at Albus in agreement with the lioness from his perch and the Headmaster sighed, “The weight of his bloodlines is great. There is no reason to thrust him into the politics before he turns seventeen.”

His deputy just threw her hands up in surrender and stormed out. 

She hadn’t wanted Harry left with the Dursleys. And she didn’t like Albus hiding his relation to his grandson. Nor did she approve of his continued silence toward his brother.

“One of these days she’s going to get full up of us.”

“True,” Albus allowed, passing the list of horcruxes he’d finalized before going to sleep the night before.

Severus studied it and froze when he reached the end.

Voldemort's Horcruxes

- Diary

-Gaunt Ring

-Ravenclaw's Diadem

-Hufflepuff Cup

-Slytherin Locket

-Nagini

_ -Harry _

“No.”

“Yes,” Albus didn’t like saying it. He’d thought his hand was going to shake off the night before just trying to write it, but it had to be addressed, “When his soul erupted from his body that night, I think a piece of it may have latched onto the nearest living thing.”

His son ran a hand over his goatee in what was probably the Potions Master’s only nervous tick, “There has to be a way to remove it.”

“I’m looking,” He promised sincerely, “But, Sev, it will be a moot point if we haven’t destroyed the others.”

They spent hours pouring through memories and making notes on the list, speculating where in the entire world Albus’ previous pupil would have stashed the other five ghastly creations. Severus also speculated that, since they knew Quirrell had become possessed by the man in Albania, that the disenfranchised Dark Lord might have returned there after his showdown with Harry the previous year. As dinner approached they speculated that the ring was somewhere associated with Tom’s maternal family, it was likely that he might have left one of them behind here in Hogwarts, and that he’d given some of them to more followers for protection.

His son speculated that the Lestranges and Sirius were some of the most likely candidates. Albus thought about asking Minerva to request his brother’s consent for them to search the Black properties, but knew it would result in further ire. She’d been the only mother his oldest nephew had ever claimed and, though Abby was the active lord of the family since Orion’s death and their son’s imprisonment, the innkeep insisted that Sirius was innocent, despite the fact that he’d confessed under the influence of veritaserum.

Nagini was a major loose end, because the maledictus could be anywhere, and he tried to convince Fawkes to hunt her down to no avail. His stupid familiar was on some kick about him losing his hallow, despite the fact that Albus had threatened to shove the Elder Wand right up the phoenix’s keester, before the phoenix squawked and took off in a blaze of fire. At the end of the day though, that was as far as they got, other than the young vampire’s speculation on if necromancy and a form of exorcism would be an answer for Harry.

Albus wasn’t sure, but both of them were going to look into it.

Sev sighed and rubbed at his goatee from his place huddled in the window seat, "I feel like we're living on a hair trigger every day. Mere moments from him finding out."

He had to admit that was fair enough, "I'd love nothing more than to tell him, but marking a twelve year old as the heir to a Peverell line, Hogwarts, Vampire Society, and the Liberator?"

"I know. He'd never stop until my son was destroyed."

Albus hated it for the whole family! 

Truly, he did. 

But Percival Graves was the heir of Ignotus Peverell through the Potter line and the heir to Vampire Society through the Graves line. Most of Gellert's faction would abandon Tom for the Liberator's true heir in a heartbeat even today. And that didn't even include who Harry was to Hogwarts' legacy.

Albus was the heir to Godric Gryffindor, a bloodline he'd passed down to Lily and now her son, but that was public knowledge. The rest of his heritage was kept close to the vest of the Dumbledore family heads for centuries now. Everyone in the magical community knew that Arthur Pendragon only passed on his bloodline through bastards, because his wife was infertile, but little known was the fact that it wasn't just Mordred that he'd conceived.

The king and heir to Helga Hufflepuff had an affair with his court sorcerer, Merlin Emrys, and conceived another bastard. Though the powerful sorcerer had been sorted into Slytherin, he was the biological bastard of Rowena Ravenclaw, who swore that no one of his line would ever enter his mother's house as he blamed the Hogwarts founder for his sister's death at the hands of the Bloody Baron.

When their daughter, Avalon Emrys, married into the Dumbledore line, that made their children the natural heirs to half of Hogwarts. And when the Lioncourts married into his family, they became the known heirs to Godric Gryffindor as well, meaning three fourths of the founders' bloodlines coursed through his veins, Lily's, and Harry's. Though Severus was only his honorary son, he was also the only other heir to Salazar Slytherin besides Tom, and that made Harry the school's full blooded heir.

How could he curse the twelve year old like that? Make him the greatest challenge that Tom could ever possibly defeat?

The bastard had already made a bid for the Darkly Inclined by murdering the Hard Charger and Liberator's heir in James. He'd take out the twelve year old without a second thought if he ever got the chance. He'd already tried when Harry was fifteen months old for Christ's sake!

Severus sighed and his head fell back against the stone wall by the window seat, "I almost told him. After Dueling Club."

"I was tempted too," Albus confessed with a laugh. He'd never forget the look on his son's face when Harry revealed himself a parselmouth in front of half the school, "At least we could pass it off as a result of the horcrux."

The younger wizard sneered, "At the very least."

"We'll get it out of him, Sev."

"It's all I'm going to be able to think about now," He hissed, before dark eyes turned to his father, "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I wasn't sure… I suspected highly when his scar started hurting, but I had no proof Tom actually made a horcrux. Until," Albus just held up the diary as a statement unto itself.

And the Slytherin accepted that well enough, only huffing, "It all would have been for not, if you hadn't thought to change his heritage potion. I completely forgot."

"You think we'd pay more attention to them after…" He froze when his brain actually processed what the boy had just said and he shot up from his chair, "I didn't alter his heritage potion!"

That dark head tilted in confusion, "You had to!"

They stared at one another for a long moment, before both shot up and tore over to the filing cabinet that held all the potions results for past students, Albus rushing to Harry's results for that year. Passing the folder to his son the vampire slammed it down on the desk and tore through all of his son's grades. When he finally found the results and passed them over, Albus collapsed into his chair in shock.

With a wave of his hand he could feel the magic hiding Sev's status as the boy's third parent, but, "I didn't do this."

"Neither did I…" He ran his own hand across it, but had to shake his head, "The magic is familiar, but I can't place it. Who else would…?"

"I don't know," The Headmaster noted, "Certainly not Minerva… I don't know."

The red of panic bled into his son's aura and he felt a similar sensation. There was a totally unknown agent meddling in Harry's knowledge. And they had to figure out who.

The Headmaster was honestly surprised when his Head of House for Gryffindor returned just as they were staring at the result mystified. No one would ever say that Minerva McGonagall was quick to forgive. After a moment though, he spotted Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger coming in just a step behind her, and it struck him that the deeply satisfied purple that currently made up her mood might not bode well for them.

“Professor McGonagall?”

She was already sinking into the seat across his desk though and crossing her legs while setting upon him catlike green eyes, “I’m just here to enjoy the reckoning.”

Confused, Albus looked to the children for a greater explanation. Ron went to pick up and play with the deluminator on his desk, though he was munching on a cookie in his other hand, and it wasn’t any great shock when the little lioness was the one to take charge. Hermione reminded him so much of his daughter at times that it was right painful to interact with her.

The Gryffindor had no such qualms and stepped right up to the side of his desk, “We just returned from Nurmengard; Harry’s grandparents invited us over for the afternoon.”

Wide eyes shot down to the letter that she’d slid across his desk and sure enough there was familiar handwriting addressing the missive to him. He might not have spoken to Percival Graves since their mating dream in 1898, but Albus had worked with the man for decades since becoming Chief Warlock. His bold script was all too familiar.

After a moment he looked up at the second year, already dreading what would come next.

“They invited Harry to stay the night and he accepted,” Brown eyes certainly didn’t cower as she held his gaze easily, her tone even and self assured, “Director Graves will be dropping him off here in the morning.”

Finished with her divulgence, the girl turned on her heel and ordered sharply, “Ronald, let’s go.”

The wizard put the deluminator down half hazardously and turned to follow her with a quip, "I'm well aware you're a girl, Mione, but you've still got the biggest bollocks of anyone I know."

Minerva snorted quietly, before calling for her little protege's attention just before she reached the stairs, "Ms. Granger, might I make an inquiry?"

Bushy brown hair bounced as the teenage girl turned immediately, "Professor?"

His friend didn't pull her punches and held Albus' startled blue eyes, even as she addressed one of her lions, "How long has Mr. Potter been in contact with his grandparents?"

"Since Yule of our first year, Professor."

"How did he get their contact information?"

"His mother provided it in a letter that we got on the train, as did his father when he encouraged Harry not to be afraid of them," She noted curtly as Albus' heart shattered into a million pieces, "Then the missives turned into a necklace of… Well, I don't quite recall what they were."

The witch set her companion with an expectant look as Albus finally came back to himself enough to observe the pair and he instantly recognized Gellert's infamous double fudge cookie upon closer inspection when Ron answered, "To-tems."

She glared at him for talking with his mouth full, but continued the conversation, "Yes, totems. Two of them."

"What were they?"

Even the little genius seemed surprised when Severus' baritone broke into the discussion, but she proved quickly that she wouldn't be cowed by the Head of Slytherin either and informed him shortly, "A lion and a bird, though I don't know what the latter was…"

"'t 'as a Ameri-an tur-el," Ron put in around his last mouthful of cookie.

She turned to glare at him again, before Hermione set the exact same look on her potions instructor, "Lady Potter also instructed him on her family and their third mate."

"My, my," Minerva finally broke back in and held Albus' gaze when blue eyes darted back to her, "Who could have predicted this? Thank you, Ms. Granger."

"Professor," She acknowledged respectfully, before turning on her heel once more and starting down the stairs, Ron following with a look of resigned admiration.

Silence reigned until they heard the wall close downstairs and the sound was enough to make both wizards jump. Suspecting who had altered Harry's potion now that they knew he knew, Albus ran a hand over the results and confirmed for both of them that it was his grandson's magic. And why wouldn't Harry put every effort into keeping them in the dark, when they'd been doing the exact same thing to him?

"Well?"

Albus just stared at his deputy like the startled tosser that he was, unsure what she was even demanding at this point. When her eyes flicked down to the envelope on his desk and back up again, he gulped before opening it to read aloud, "Dear Headmaster Dumbledore, my husband and I have taken custody of our grandson for the night…"

Minerva snorted, "He could mean the royal 'our' but I doubt it."

He didn't dare argue with that and just kept reading, "...and previously approved the visit of his friends, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. I will be returning him to Hogwarts tomorrow morning via the floo network at 6:45am…"

Severus swallowed nervously, but still insisted, "I want to be here." 

They were royally fucked in terms of the original plan anyway, so it wasn't like Albus could object, "...It is assumed that there will be no issues with this arrangement, but if there are please feel free to drop by Nurmengard to discuss them…"

His deputy busted out laughing to the point that it looked like she might fall from her chair, "If that's not a challenge I don't know what is!"

"And it's signed 'Henry Percival Graves Potter,'" He noted finally, slamming it down on his desk, "Oh my fucking God."

"Well, gentlemen, if you'll excuse me," His transfiguration professor informed them, rising from her seat, "It's my night off."

“Minerva,” He called out right before she disappeared down the stairs and she turned willingly enough, probably curious to see just what he thought he could offer in this clusterfuck of a situation, “I’m sorry.”

Her eyes had been like slits since she arrived, but at the apology her pupils widened and her face softened, “For what can forgive, I do… I’d practice for the twelve year old though.”

When the wall closed for a second time, Albus made himself get up and go to comfort his son, who had an aura the saddest color blue that he’d never seen, except for maybe when the boy went through mating withdrawal. Sitting down next to him, he clasped the thirty-three year old on the knee, “It’ll be alright, Sev. We’ll…”

“I’ve been my father for two years,” His voice stuttered as he said it, “I… Oh, gods.”

“I know. It’s all my fault,” He hugged the Potions Master, “I’ll tell him that.”

“You didn’t treat him like shit,” Sev shook his head, “Merlin’s bloody ball sack.”

Both of them were in such a bad mental and emotional state at finding out that they’d done nothing but isolate Harry that Albus knew they needed some time to process the discovery. He got his Head of House moving toward dinner and noted when the vampire spent most of the event staring at Harry’s pride of lions left behind. Not that they had much cause to glance up at the professor in return.

No one would have known that Hermione and Ron had been to a notorious terrorist’s castle, not that Nurmengard was anything like most people expected, but it would still shock most that they’d been there. Albus wasn’t too sure if they were spreading the news or not. And he watched closely when the bunch got up to make for their tower, but they didn’t seem to be up to anything else tonight.

Turning his and Sev’s world upside down was enough for one day.

When his son finished eating a scant amount he excused himself to go isolate in his lab for the night and process in his own time. Albus asked Filius if he’d be willing to manage the castle for a night, claiming exhaustion, and then disappeared back to his suite when the man accepted enthusiastically as soon as dinner ended at nine. Going back to the fourth floor, he barely made it inside before collapsing into his recliner.

An hour later he didn’t remember going over to the bar or pouring his first drink, but there he sat with it. Through his second, third, and fourth glass it only got easier not to keep track. A lot easier than cataloguing every moment of Harry’s time over the last two years and wondering how in the hell he could have missed it.

The truth was that he couldn’t even be surprised at Lily sending her son a letter. All she would have had to do was hand it over to Gringotts in the event that something happened to her. Have it kept apart from their will and make Harry the sole recipient upon whatever date she wanted.

And if James found out that Lily was doing it, then there was no doubt that he’d tripped all over himself to do it too.

He wondered idly how long it had taken Harry to realize that they were ignoring him; it couldn’t have been more than a day since he’d had Potions within a day or two. Probably hadn’t taken more than a moment past his realization for that temper he got from Lily to show itself. Albus’ daughter had been a fire cracker and Harry certainly took after her when he did take to something.

Boy had proved that with the stone twice over.

And then this year… Maybe if Albus hadn’t already long since convinced him that they were useless as confidants, he would have told them about the voice in the walls. They would have known about him being a parselmouth and he might have even trusted them if they told him to keep it to himself.

Sometime around the bottle being half empty, the Headmaster started to speculate on Harry wanting to stay at Hogwarts last year, instead of going back to his aunt and uncle’s. He thought his grandson had just found himself in the magical world and didn’t want to leave, but now he couldn’t help but wonder if his royal apology to Minerva earlier was going to end up even grander than he knew. He’d managed some massive fuck ups in his day, but this damn near set a new record.

Normally, when he was this torn up about something, he firecalled his hus… Gellert. And the younger wizard soothed him and put him back together. Then they usually hung up at whatever wild hour the siren’s vampire mate and spouse got back to Nurmengard.

Despite Graves’ commentary that he could come by the Austrian castle though, Albus didn’t think, even drunk off his arse, that it had been anything other than a dare. A threat that if he even thought about walking his backside over the Hard Charger’s threshold, then the consequences would be… Well, it wasn’t going to be pleasant.

And Harry certainly didn’t need that sort of drama after the two years he’d already been through.

He was reaching for the bottle to get a refill when his home floo sounded off with someone trying to call in and it was beyond him to give a damn. Whoever was calling him wasn’t getting an answer this late. Filius had the school, Gellert had Harry, and the rest of the world could just bloody well burn. 

All the more, he jumped when a hand reached over to take his bottle away.

“You’ve had enough,” Abby’s rich voice informed him, already grabbing the lid and screwing it back on, putting the cognac back after rounding his wetbar, like it hadn’t been over a decade since they talked to one another, “One souse in the family was plenty.”

He sat back and blinked over his half-moon spectacles. Yes, only three people could get in with his home floo code; Minerva, Gellert, and Abby. That didn’t make it any easier to believe that his little brother was standing behind his bar, bent over a foot away to lean on the seasoned oak by his elbows, after stealing Albus’ drink.

"So, what did you do?" The brat demanded, after putting a tall glass of water in front of the older fae.

"I…" He shook his head and chugged half the water, "What are you doing here?"

"A woman spends a decade trying to make us communicate, only to come into my bar tonight knowing you for the bampot you are," Abby shrugged as he sipped at the drink, "I want to know more."

"What did she tell you?"

"That you've been ignoring Harry, had Sev doing the same, and now there's a looming confrontation between you and Percy."

"That does hit all the high points."

Abby's dark blue eyes were curious, "How could you ignore him? He clearly knows who we are."

Sitting back in the dark wood chair, one of four that lined his bar, Albus demanded, "I'm well aware of that now. How do you know that?"

"He's been dropping by my bar once a week since Yule," His brother shrugged, draining his glass casually as Albus' eyes blew wide, "Always brings that lot of his; Draco, and Neville, and the look alikes."

"Draco Malfoy?! They hate each other!"

Abby snorted so hard that his nose had to hurt, "I can assure you, they don't. Some genius you are."

Glaring at him was only so satisfying and eventually he just crumpled on the bar, massaging his temples, "This is a disaster."

"Well, most things associated with you tend that way," His brother reminded unhelpfully and far too cheery as he poured himself another drink, but exchanging cognac for his preferred brandy.

Finishing his water and accepting the refill that his brother handed him, Albus figured it was only right to check, "Should I be letting you drink after date night?"

"Please, I never drink before taking a woman to bed," Abby waved him off, "Inhibits all the good stuff."

His nose wrinkled and he grimaced, "I do not want to hear about how you defiled my deputy."

"Fine. Of course, Hel wouldn't reign if you got a good defiling yourself… Might even make you a more competent human being."

"You know I haven't done that in years."

"True. You retiring from the waist down past seventy certainly reduced the price of a one night stand."

"Excuse me?"

"You have to admit, total exsanguination is a heavy price to pay for a ginger quicky picked up in a bar."

Albus just shook his head, "I'm drunker than I thought. What the bloody hell are you talking about?!"

His brother just grinned and shook his head, "Nothing."

"Abby…"

Realizing he wasn't going to just drop it, the brat leaned in a little closer and demanded, "Have you ever had a run in with an ex?"

"Sure, Garrick and I…"

"Someone you hooked up with post-'98."

Albus had to admit he hadn't.

"One of these days, genius, you might want to question why that is."

Still confused beyond words, he finally just shrugged and allowed it, "I feel entirely too old for the last forty-eight hours."

"Hmm… We could always do something about that."

"You want to deage?"

"Why not?" Abby demanded, "I'm certainly not planning to go anywhere while the kid's twelve. Minne was talking about taking her potion earlier."

Years ago, he and Abby had brewed a batch of Illusia de Fae for the witch in case they ever deaged, since she didn't have an inheritance that could enable such transfiguration. It wasn't something all magicians could do, but those with certain inheritances could cheat the aging process. And it wasn't true immortality, as vampires had gained the reputation in the muggle world, but it did raise life expectancy astronomically.

Albus got ready to do it, but stopped when Aberforth grabbed his forearm. He just arched a brow in the younger wizard's direction, surprised by the concern in the boy's eyes.

"Are you alright to do this?"

Rolling his eyes, the Headmaster assured, "I'm not that drunk."

They both engaged the branch of transfiguration that was a step above the animagus transformation and proved how much brothers often thought alike. Both of them traded in their old-fashioned robes for sweatpants and an undershirt, though Albus went for scarlet pants with gold stitching and a white shirt, while his brother went for solid black. And they both scaled back back to the 45-50 range.

Abby wouldn't ever say it, but he looked just like their father with his dark, shoulder length hair, peppered with a bit of grey. And he'd also gotten his midnight blue eyes from the man. It was a very handsome look on his brother though and, at least by the time his children had been born, their father had never had a claim to that description.

Albus had been the odd ball from the beginning. Scarlet hair and sky blue eyes hadn't appeared in the Dumbledore line for decades prior to him. But, he was back to the age that he hadn't enjoyed since the Roaring Twenties, mostly going for the same look with a short and trim beard, though he already dreaded Gellert's commentary the next time they did see one another.

A whistle drew their attention to the usually empty portrait in the corner by his entrance, but it was a soft and delicate sound that was more like a songbird, "No, that's not it."

The strawberry blonde depiction of a teenager with big green eyes, who'd looked just like their mother in life, gave a few more attempts at finding the whistle she wanted. When proven unsuccessful, Abby had mercy on her and gave a wolf whistle, probably having more experience with the gesture than Albus wanted to think about.

"That's the one!" Ariana declared, pointing at Abby before descending into a fit of giggles in the empty frame and blank portrait.

Albus just huffed and took his third glass of water over to the sofa, "Stop having my students teach you these things."

"Never!"

Abby huffed at them and dropped into the recliner at his brother's head, "So, what's the deal with this book that possessed a girl?"

Maybe it was just the relief that his brother was here and talking to him after a brutal couple of days, nay a brutal decade, but Albus divulged it all. Every horcrux and every theory he'd developed with Severus concerning their placement. He even told him about the one inside Harry.

Though his brother was horrified, he did make the recommendation that they get Graves' advice on the necromancy and exorcism idea. Hogwarts' resident Potions Master was a brilliant man; he was also thirty-three. He hadn't been a vampire for nearing two centuries and they were talking about something very complex.

Albus promised he would, assuming the vampire didn't just eat him the following morning… This morning, they both realized as the clock on his mantle struck two. His brother went to crash in his spare bedroom and the Headmaster descended into the master, relieved to sink into his silk sheets, even if he only had four and a half hours to sleep it off.

Of course, as was the nature of the beast, when his alarm went off at 6:30am it felt like only a mere moment had passed. He managed to stumble into his bathroom and grab a hangover cure and a pepperup potion, enduring the steam that erupted from his ears with a grimace, before turning the shower on icy and giving himself five minutes to actually wake up in there. Then he stumbled to the back of his closet where he’d never gotten rid of his three piece suits and grabbed a tan candidate to dress quickly.

Checking in on Abby, his little brother was still fast asleep, and when he got to his office Severus and Fawkes were waiting on him with five minutes to spare. His son arched an onyx brow, but didn’t comment on the deaging otherwise, and his familiar didn’t much seem to notice as he was too busy staring out the open window. Albus opened the floo network before checking in, “Did you sleep at all?”

“No… There’s probably something that I should warn you about, before they get here.”

“Alright?”

“Uncle Percy wanted to challenge you for custody of Harry,” The Potions Master confessed quietly, “He gave up the idea when I refused to back him and Uncle Gellert agreed letting Andy take him was the best way to keep him safe.”

Groaning he ran a hand through his scarlet hair and dropped back in his chair, “Well… You best be warned as well, he wasn’t with Andy.”

“What?”

“After Sirius, I couldn’t hand him over to the Black family,” Albus confessed to what only Hagrid and Minerva had known up until that point, “I gave him to Lil’s muggle sister, Petunia.”

Dark eyes blew wide right as the floo fired and they both waited for the smoke to clear with held breath. It wasn’t truly a shock that the Director of Security had come through first, dressed in a dark suit and his legendary trench coat, looking just like he had for the past century. He glared at both of them, even as he side stepped to avoid being run over by the near immediate arrival of Harry.

The twelve year old took in the room and the corner of his mouth turned upward when he finally caught sight of Albus, “Smart, doing it gradually so people wouldn’t notice.”

He couldn't help but grin for no other reason than the fact that his grandson certainly hadn't lost his wit to the last couple days, but didn’t rise to the jest, especially when it was able to pull a begrudging laugh from his ignored mate. MACUSA’s Director of Security didn’t seem to have much interest in either adult with the second year’s arrival and tapped the Gryffindor on the shoulder, before pointing toward the stairs, “Get to breakfast.”

“You’ll pick me up?”

“Six days in counting,” He assured their grandson warmly.

Harry wasn’t satisfied though and one of his hands twisted in the man’s white dress shirt, “I step off the train and you’re there?”

The vampire chuckled and ran a hand through the boy’s unruly hair, “With bells on.”

A beam was his first response, then he hugged the Hard Charger excitedly. When the man returned the embrace Albus was surprised to hear a low rumble come from his ignored mate, a sound that he hadn’t heard since their mating dream. It was a bit like a cat’s purr, but deeper and richer.

As soon as he was released Harry bounced out of the office without sparing either of them another glance, not that they could blame him. And as the stone wall slid shut at the bottom of the staircase, shrieks sounded simultaneously. The first was from outside his office and the other was Fawkes responding, his familiar bouncing up and down on his perch excitedly all of a sudden.

Albus stood up in tandem with Severus when Hedwig, Harry’s snowy owl, came barreling into the spherically shaped office. She dropped something at Percy’s feet that he couldn’t see for the desk and the older wizard shot off a blue spell from his wand before the Headmaster could catch it. All he knew was that there was a ton of smoke, another human form appeared within the mist, and then the Potter and Graves family head was throwing a right hook to knock the new arrival out.

“Thank you, Iggy,” Percy offered as they were both hurrying to see what in the world had just transpired.

Seeing Peter Pettigrew unconscious on his office floor made Albus’ stomach drop down to his shoes, before it rolled and tried to come back up through his throat. If Peter was alive, then… Holy fucking hell.

“I hope it’s become apparent to the both of you that as a pair you’ve royally fucked this family for over a decade!” The American finally hissed, dark eyes returning to glare at both of them, “Now, I have to go and get my nephew out of Azkaban!”

The possessive claim just made Albus think that he might throw up even sooner.

When the Hard Charger grabbed Peter off the floor and got ready to haul him to the floo, Severus seemed to finally find his voice and stepped up to get the other man’s attention, “He made more horcruxes, Uncle Percy.”

Their matching dark eyes found one another, even if his son flinched at the hard look he was still on the receiving end of, “Did he?”

“We know what they are, but not where,” Severus grabbed the list and notes on the edge of Albus’ desk and offered them up warily.

Dropping Pettigrew in the nearest chair without regard for how he landed, the Director moved to look over the list and growled, before folding them neatly to go into his breast pocket. Then the vampire moved so fast and fierce that Albus didn’t register it happening until he was hoisted by his throat and slammed against the nearest book shelf. When there was finally a moment to process what happened, one of the Headmaster’s hands was already wrapped around Percy’s wrist and the other locked in the lapel of his trenchcoat.

They were nose to nose when the vampire growled out, “I am taking custody of that boy by the end of the day and if you even think of getting in my way it’ll be the last thing you ever do!”

Vaguely, where he couldn’t breathe or swallow, Albus was aware of Severus trying to pull the man off only for the much younger vampire to be flung across the room and into the window seat by an unseen force. While he knew terror was the appropriate response, it would also be a lie to say that it was his, years of private association with this particular sensation kicking in without his consent. All he could do was stare at the taller man wide eyed from his pinned position though.

“I’m back in Europe to stay,” Percy informed him, his voice sounding like standing in the midst of an earthquake, “And this time I’m here to clean up your fucking mess, whether you like it or not.”

He was flung into the chair behind his desk and immediately went to cough up a lung while trying to gasp for breath at the same time. Eyes watering, Albus couldn’t see anything for a moment, even though he was vaguely aware of the floo firing again. After a few minutes though, Sev’s voice finally registered where his son was trying to check on him.

“I’m alright,” It probably would have been more convincing if his voice hadn’t sounded like a toad croaking in a swamp, but he still pulled himself up in the chair and shook his head to try and clear it, “I’m fine.”

“Frigg have mercy,” The Slytherin muttered as he took in the sight of Albus’ neck, “You’re going to bruise, badly.”

“I’ve, uh…” Albus shook his head again and assured, “I’ve got a salve in my medicine cabinet. Get to breakfast and I’ll be there in ten.”

Nodding, his son rose to comply, but it was clear he was realigning his understanding of what just happened based on the Headmaster's current mental presence, “What are we going to do?”

“Stay out of his way, quite frankly,” Was the best advice that he could give at the moment, quickly making for the shortcut between his office and home behind the painting of Merlin, “I’ve got to go talk to Abby.”

When Albus got into the dimly lit hallway between the two and only put a glamour on his neck to cover the damage that was his business. In his apartment it was no shock to find that Aberforth was just dragging himself from the kitchen with tea in hand, probably as black as his soul. Kid’s hair had come loose from the knot he’d put it in the night before and was sticking up in all directions, just about to challenge Harry for the role of chaotic hair master.

As soon as his brother realized he was back, he inclined his chin in Albus’ direction, “The Little Prince back?

“Yes,” But that wasn’t what was truly important at the moment and the older fae said as much, “You were right. You were always right. Sirius is innocent.”

Where his brother had just sat down at his small dining table, Aberforth shot right back up at his assertion, “What? What happened?”

“Graves just arrested Peter Pettigrew in my office,” Albus confessed, having to clear his throat, “I… I’m so sorry, Abby. He went to get Sirius.”

“Where is he…?”

“I’d assu..me Nurmen...gard," The adrenaline was fading and his voice was starting to show it.

“What’s the matter with you?”

“Hangover,” He lied easily.

The brat rolled his eyes, but nodded and then gestured to the fireplace, “I have to…”

“Go,” He smiled at his overwhelmed little brother, “I have a dir...ect connection to the castle.”

It took seconds for Abby to disappear and then he finally wandered into his bathroom to survey the damage. Sure enough the redness spanning his throat was in the perfect shape of his other mate’s handprint and there was no doubt that it would darken by the end of the night. Instead of taking something for it Albus just put the glamour back on and downed his brother’s tea before taking off for breakfast.

Students were still pouring into the meal when he arrived and no one thought anything about him being a few minutes late. Severus had clearly told Minerva about what happened, because she was studying him with concern from the moment he walked through the staff entrance, but he just told her that he was fine. The witch demanded what happened and he told her about his brother coming over the night before, as well as the arrest and altercation in his office.

He settled in to talk to Filius about the previous night and luckily enough no one had been caught out or getting into mischief. So, onward with breakfast they went. Everyone who had to retake finals was getting as prepared as best they possibly could, while the rest of the children were either going back into Hogsmeade, or meeting up to explore the grounds.

Halfway through the meal everyone’s mail arrived and Minerva gasped when she saw the headlines. Apparently Gellert had finally accepted a probation offer through Theseus Scamander and the Liberator’s husband had retired from MACUSA to accept a Director position for the British Ministry. That prompted them to speculate about how wild fallout from the evening edition would be, news breaking about Sirius’ innocence and Peter’s arrest.

Harry might even make headlines again with Albus’ mates taking custody of the boy.

At nine everyone got moving where they needed to be and for him that meant going back to his office with Minerva to close out the paperwork on this school year. They worked for several hours and just before lunch his brother firecalled to let them know about the other big reveal that had been waiting for him in Nurmengard. Cissy had already been there, before Britain’s new Director sent Sirius through, and she revealed, alongside Gellert, who her son’s father actually was. Albus and his deputy confirmed, though no one really needed it, that the copy of Draco’s heritage potion in his files was a forgery and also sealed with Harry’s magic.

By lunch he'd warned Severus about his godson’s parentage and the fact that Narcissa was coming over to talk to the boy after the meal ended. Hagrid got back to campus toward the end of the meal and all Albus could manage was staring at his grandson as the twelve year old followed his friend out of the Great Hall. Harry sure knew how to pack a couple of days; that much was for sure.

He went back to his office briefly, just to make sure Cissy arrived alright, before leaving the space to her and Severus as Draco arrived. There were plenty of questions that he wanted to ask of the Slytherin, who he suddenly recognized as taking so much after his nephew in terms of the child’s dramatics, but he doubted that the blonde would be very forth when there had been little, if any, time for him to convene with Harry.

Walking the grounds and talking to students always made him happy, but today Albus couldn't deny the pull he felt to Hagrid's. As he suspected Harry was there; the boy had been taking care of Fang and was clearly worrying over the returned half-giant. It was a charming scene though with kids from every house stopping by to welcome their groundskeeper back to Hogwarts.

Fawkes announced his presence by flying over to land on Harry's other shoulder, opposite Hedwig, and the Gryffindor looked around for him immediately. It was just good timing that the other lions suggested a pick up game on the Quidditch Pitch, but part of him was still surprised when Harry said he'd meet up with them later and started in his direction. Wasn't it a shame that facing down his own grandson was far scarier than being strangled by his mate?

Life was funny that way.

When the little lion stopped just a few feet from him, Albus smiled and nodded toward the lake, "Walk with me?"

Harry shrugged and both birds took off, but he fell in step willingly enough.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. Keeping your magical families a secret seemed like the best way to protect you."

Green eyes studied him for a long moment, "You ignored Mum too, right?"

"I most certainly did not," He insisted, offense bleeding into his tone before he could think better of it.

"Then why does everyone think she's a muggle born," Harry demanded, "All she told me was that you and Gabby were big babies and not to worry about the biology like you did."

He tisked at his daughter, wherever she was in the afterlife, "She certainly made that accusation often enough…" Harry was still staring up at him and, so, he moved to elaborate with an eye roll, "Gabby can't have children."

"Because of the three way duel," The younger Gryffindor noted, "He told me."

"An honest account, I'm sure."

"So, you and Nagyi weren't snogging out by the loch…"

He huffed and made a mental note to kick his brother's arse.

"...When Nagyi told him that his big brother couldn't protect him anymore, because of the blood pact, before they started dueling; you acting as a two way second?" Harry went on before he could confirm the rendition, "Then Aunt Ariana's obscurus broke free and mutilated one of the Flaring Fiend's hexes?"

"Actually, that pretty much sums it up," Albus had to confess, surprised that his brother had told Harry it was largely an accident, the entire sordid affair, "When he found his mate in Grandpa Orion and wanted children… Walburga Black had Sirius using a conception potion I created trying to help, since she was legally Lady Black…"

"Did Pèpe get Pettigrew?"

"Yes," Albus assured, though he was curious about how the boy knew that, "And then I had your mother using the same potion with Orion, that way we'd have an heir for the Dumbledore line. But, we agreed that I'd only be known as the uncle… We hadn't ever planned to tell her, if she hadn't been kidnapped by muggle extremists as an infant."

"You'd think your lot would learn with the heritage potions."

Blue eyes cut down to the grinning boy, "They're easily doctored, as you well know."

Harry snorted, but didn't argue.

"But, I didn't ignore her. Gabby and I never wanted to acknowledge that she wasn't his in any way, so her status wasn't made public."

"That's just reserved for me and Pèpe?"

"With you, mistakes were made. He's… complicated."

Emerald eyes flicked up to him where Harry was kneeling to pick up a stone from the sand to skip, “Cop out.”

“At least let me hold a conversation with the man first.”

Harry genuinely looked surprised, “He didn’t give you what for this morning? Huh.”

“He did, in a manner of speaking,” Albus denied, sinking down in the sand and making a small pile of smooth stones for the boy to skip, “I just… Didn’t get a word in, as it were.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

Albus seized control of a large wave of lake water using wandless magic and doused the sassy boy, who busted out laughing before taking off his robe and laying out next to the Headmaster to sun himself dry. Realizing Harry was about as relaxed as could be hoped for given the two years of history between them, he decided to pry a bit, “Do you plan to speak to your father anytime soon?”

“Do you plan to speak to Pèpe?”

“Yes.”

Harry studied him for the longest time, then offered a long suffering sigh, “I suppose it wouldn’t kill me. I’m not acknowledging his first though; I made a promise to God.”

“Harry,” He tried to scold, but it was ruined by the chuckle that he couldn’t keep out of his voice.

“Professor Dumbledore!”

He looked over his shoulder at the sound of Minerva’s voice and Harry popped up to see around him. His Head of House for Gryffindor pulled a sour face upon realizing that she was interrupting them, but she kept approaching so it had to be important, “Professor McGonagall?”

“You have an urgent summons from the Ministry. They requested you bring Fawkes.”

“Duty calls, I suppose,” He got up and offered a hand to his grandson, pulling the second year up too and drying him off as Harry went. They were still dusting themselves off when he spotted a uniquely blonde head loitering in the shadows of the woods, “I believe Draco’s looking for you.”

“Right,” Harry followed his sights, “I need him to get into the old man’s lab anyway.”

“Best of luck, then.”

“Ditto.”

He was already running off when Albus turned to head back into the castle, his best friend at his side and absolutely beaming at her will finally being done. They chatted a bit about the summons as they moved and she confirmed that Percy had been one busy Director of Defense, as his new title actually read, since sending Sirius off at Nurmengard that morning... After literally opening the man’s cell door, tossing Pettigrew inside, and telling Abby’s son to get his arse up and moving. That part of the story was all per his brother, who was still at Nurmengard with Sirius, Cissy, and the woman’s month old daughter.

The rest of the updates came from his summons. Percy had given the list of horcruxes to Theseus Scamander, the Lord Commander of Special Operations deploying his two teams of unparalleled specialists to find the dark artifacts immediately, and retrieving the ring from the Gaunt house ruins, Hufflepuff’s cup from the Lestrange vault after Cissy gave them permission to search, and the locket from Number 12 Grimmauld Place after Abby gave them permission to search the Black properties due to Bellatrix’s ability to enter them and her incrimination by the cup. By his calculations that left the diadem, Nagini, and Harry, so Fawkes’ requested presence was easily explained by the need to have him hunt the snake, and Minerva warned that they wanted to search the castle for the diadem.

It wasn’t just the horcruxes, however. After Sirius had been falsely imprisoned for twelve years, Albus’ vampire mate had demanded that Fudge be suspended and the Wizengamot had already named Amelia Bones as the interim Minister of Magic. On top of that the Director had ordered a complete sweep of Azkaban, including the graveyard, to verify who was imprisoned or passed away since the time Sirius was arrested, via magical verification. They’d already discovered Barty Crouch Jr. had escaped with his father’s aid and both men had been detained for further sentencing.

Apparently they wanted him to get there badly enough that they hadn’t just sent a traditional summons. No, Theseus had deployed his brother to Hogwarts and Newt was waiting to bring him in. He fought not to roll his eyes at the gesture.

“Dumbledore.”

“Newt,” He hugged the boy, “Always a pleasure.”

Fawkes landed on his shoulder and much to his surprise the phoenix seemed more than enthusiastic to hunt Nagini down. He told his old friend that he’d meet him at the Ministry and the magizoologist wasn’t even shocked when he just disappeared in a burst of flames at the creature’s will. They landed in his seat as Chief Warlock, since the wards couldn’t block Fawkes, and the mixture of faces pulled amongst the crowd was split right down the middle between thrill and exasperation.

Albus just gave a solid hit with his gavel, “Let’s move this along then.”

Proceedings were bound to be long. As the minutes were read from the last meeting and the reasons for the emergency session listed off, lengthy as they were, he spotted Newt and Tina coming to sit in the audience box that was open to the public. He knew that the Scamander brothers' wife had taken over as interim Director of Security for MACUSA and was sure they’d sent her to find out what the hell was going on given Percy’s sudden departure, the fae’s protege tagging along because he never could sit out an adventure.

Amelia was in her new position just a seat below the Chief Warlock’s left and was doing her best to be a voice for the people in the chaos. It looked like Alastor Moody had been called in to replace Barty Crouch Sr. as Head of the Department of Magical Law, although Albus would put his last knut on that being as temporary as his old friend could feasibly make it, in his seat just below the Chief Warlock’s right, and the rest of the representatives remained in their place as they spanned out to either side of him. On the floor, Britain’s magical law enforcement was now represented by Lord Henry Percival Graves Potter in his place as Director of Defense at the center of the table, though he was flanked on either side by Lord Commander Scamander and Head Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt. 

Once everyone new to their role was introduced for the sake of the record they got down to business. For the moment the accused table housed a locket, cup, ring, and Albus sent Fawkes back to his office to get the diary too. They discussed their options for destroying the horcruxes and it was decided that Newt would return to Hogwarts with a note from Albus to excavate basilisk fangs for their use, so the infamous magizoologist was soon gone again. Attention also turned to the auror’s speculation that the diadem was in Hogwarts and their wish to search.

He tried to suggest that they wait a week, until students were gone from the school, but Theseus reiterated that they didn’t have that sort of time to waste. And Albus understood that. He asked Auror Nymphadora Tonks to come forward and wondered if she remembered where the Room of Requirement was; he’d caught her sneaking out of it once per his recollection. The girl confirmed that she did with a flush and Albus asked if Head Auror Kingsley could be excused from the floor to go with the young auror in a small search party, before they deployed any massive search teams.

Percy gave his permission still staring at his paperwork and that was when it struck the Chief Warlock; the vampire refused to even look at him. Not once since he arrived had the older wizard met his gaze and it seemed so obvious that the Hard Charger was still enraged after his brain kicked on. Albus hadn’t spoken to him in nearly a century, ran their family into the ground, and one hoisting that he had a less than appropriate reaction to wasn’t going to change any of it.

That was the main thought permeating his mind, even as he accepted the permit for Fawkes to hunt Nagini, and his phoenix was deployed to bring back the roasted corpse of a maledictus horcrux. His familiar had been uncooperative for over a decade and suddenly he was back to the creature who’d first bonded to Albus after his showdown with Credence. More of his brain power would have gone to the sudden change in his immortal beast today, if it wasn’t still stuck on somehow hauling himself from the doghouse with his mate.

The last topic that they had to discuss was the horcrux inside of Harry and that breathed some amount of fire back into the Lord of the Potter family, who insisted vehemently that he would be the only one removing the piece of soul from his grandson. Alastor tried to interject that the magical community didn’t have time to wait for some lengthy research process, but when the Director growled, called him a boy, and instructed him to remember who he was talking to, everyone in the room had a new respect for the vampire, especially when all Mad-Eye did was flush and concede. Albus was glad he was behind the bench, because his less than appropriate reactions to the vampire hadn’t been this bad in decades, even as he listened to Percy assure that he could get it out and would before the next morning.

Newt returned and, before they let him take the floor, the last issue on the docket was the select team that would be going to Albania the next morning. There was a lengthy debate about the aurors who would be accompanying Percy on the trip, but eventually they got a team of ten selected, including Theseus and Kingsley. Britain’s Head Auror returned with the diadem as they were wrapping the topic up and Albus subtly checked his watch. It was just after six, meaning they’d been at this for at least five hours, and he wanted to talk to his mate before going back to school for dinner.

As if sensing his need for urgency, Albus’ phoenix familiar showed back up and dropped a roasted Nagini on the table with the diary, slightly apart from the other horcruxes. One stray thought did go to the fact that Gellert would be quite thrilled the traitor, who’d turned on him after Credence’s fall, was now dead to the world. But, it was just a passing notion.

Percy, Theseus, and Kingsley all worked in tandem to destroy the other horcruxes using basilisk fangs and Albus could hardly believe how quickly it was all over. Soon the destroyed artifacts were being collected as evidence and they were adjourned until the next day, when they would hopefully be exorcising whatever bit of Tom remained in Albania. God willing, it would be as smooth a meeting as this one.

When the Director was quick to make his exit, Albus was quick to make his excuses of needing to talk to the man to get through the crowd without having to socialize. He tried to call out for him several times, but kept getting cut off by one person or another. Even when he finally escaped the melee of witches and wizards within the chambers, the vampire didn’t stop, “Director!”

The stupid vampire turned a corner without acknowledging him and by the time the Chief Warlock did the same his mate had disappeared into thin air, “God damn it, Percy.”

“How’s that shoe feel on the other foot?”

He turned to find that it was Tina and couldn’t really be surprised. She was protective of her adoptive father, just as Severus and Newt were of him. Albus sighed and ran a hand over his glamoured neck and toward the back of his head to scratch an imaginary itch there, “I just want to fix this mess.”

“Maybe you should have thought of that a couple decades ago,” She turned on her heel and was gone into the crowd in a moment.

Albus doubted it would do any good to point out that a couple of decades ago, he hadn’t even known what the problem was. It wouldn’t change anything anyway. Instead he set out to find the Director of Defense’s office, refusing to give up so easily when he knew how badly he’d fucked up. Finding the Auror Department was no problem and Nymphadora was more than willing to point him in the right direction.

But, his mate’s office was locked down for the night.

He went next door to Theseus and found that the Commander’s office was where Newt wound up as well, “Boys, any idea if Percy's still here?”

“He already left to go and get Harry,” Theseus offered, “Hope the moody bastard will be in a better mindset once it’s over.”

“It’s been a long day,” Albus tried to justify.

“He has been rather surly,” Newt put in, “I’ve never seen him like that before.”

Sighing, the fae decided to try and catch the man at Hogwarts, “I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

He expected Fawkes to take him back to his office, but instead they wound up in his apartment.

“They’re already gone.”

“Shite!” His natural scottish lit came out in his ire and Albus instantly abandoned any thought of making it to dinner. If anyone asked he would say that he got hung up at the Ministry. He threw his suit jacket off and sent it flying to his closet using magic, before collapsing next to Gellert on his creamy leather sofa, the siren’s nose still stuck in the evening edition, and letting the glamour on his neck fall away, “What made the headlines?”

“Sirius, Pettigrew, and Harry’s change in custody,” The seer didn’t look up from whatever he was reading, “They made note of the emergency Wizengamot meeting, but since it was closed to the press they are following up on it tomorrow night.”

“Yea verily,” He commented dryly, before checking, “How is Sirius?”

“Overwhelmed, but he’ll be alright. Figured it was best to give him and Cissy some time alone after finally managing to get your brother out of my castle.”

Albus was sure that the two had snarked at one another all day. Gellert and Abby just couldn’t help themselves. Especially when his brother had sworn on many deities that he’d never set foot inside of Nurmengard; he was sure that the two had spent the day barking at one another, “What’s he actually doing to Harry?”

“Took him over to his parents’ place; they have special tombs for exorcisms,” Gel shrugged behind his paper, “I’m pretty sure they’re out of town though. So, to say they’ll be pissy about missing them is an understatement.”

They descended into silence for a few minutes, to the point that Albus startled a bit when the siren asked, “You alright?”

“Mmm… I know he has every right to be pissed at me. I just wanna start putting our bloody lives back together.”

“You managed well enough with Harry,” Gel noted, folding up the paper and throwing it on the coffee table, “And he’s not pissed at you.”

“I’m not in the mood for your sarcasm.”

“I’m not being sarcastic!” The younger wizard insisted, turning to face his fae mate and tucking one leg underneath him before hissing, “Got you good, didn’t he?”

Albus ran a hand over the marks that had surely turned to purple bruises by now, “Yeah.”

“I saw it over our mating bond, but damn,” He moved the fire fae’s hand to get a better look, “Does this mean you’re engaged?”

“Go fuck yourself, Gellert.”

“Hardly seems fair when I have two husbands in the wings,” The Liberator chuckled, resting his head adorably on his arm propped up by the back of the sofa; it was easy to forget how lethal he could be when the seer was grinning at him like this, “Come now. Can you honestly say any man with his hands near your neck hasn’t always had you halfway down the aisle?”

The Headmaster rolled his eyes, but conceded, “Fine, I’ve had the worst cast of blue balls today that I’ve had since you left Godric’s Hollow in ‘99. Happy?”

“It’s a step in the right direction,” The love of his life allowed, “Now, believe me when I tell you that he’s not angry at you.”

“Gel… I screwed the pooch.”

“Perhaps, but as far as Percy’s concerned, so did he,” The blonde insisted, rubbing calming circles on his lover’s thigh.

Albus looked over at him aghast, positively offended beyond all reason, demanding, “Have you seen what he managed in the last two days alone!? Jesus fucking Christ, he did it all while keeping Harry all but cloistered.”

“He’s many things, chief among them a family man,” Gellert shrugged, “That’s not what I’m talking about.” When all he got was a curious look from blue eyes of his favorite shade, he elaborated, slowly dragging his hand all the way up from the Chief Warlock’s thigh to his throat, “He let his temper get the better of him and he’s ashamed. Albie, he hurt you…”

The taller wizard snorted, "He did not hurt me. I got worse than this from a one night stand I picked up in Abby's bar."

"We're both well aware," His hiss was nasty and full of displeasure, before he forced himself to take a deep breath, "But, that was consensual, and this morning was not."

"I'd have let him, if he asked."

"Albie…"

"I'm certainly not as fucking delicate as he seems to think!" The Elder Wand Conqueror insisted, "I could have gotten him off, if I'd wanted to! You know that!"

"Yes, I do," Gellert agreed, "Sev had no such chance, but you made a choice. You just need to tell Percy that."

"Gladly, if he'll let me."

"Well, he may need a little more time," Gellert noted, "The last time he let his rage take control…"

Curious as to what could make the Liberator trail off like that, Albus ran the back of two fingers across razor sharp cheekbones until silver blue and bronze locked sights with him again, "What happened?"

"He slept with a witch from MACUSA the day after I was imprisoned," Tears pooled in the seer's eyes and it pulled at the fae's heartstrings, "The worst part was that he didn't even want her. It was just the only way he could feel like he wasn't still my prisoner."

"You never told me that before," He whispered quietly, wiping the tears that fell away. And that was significant, because he'd talked to Gellert most nights since the siren was confined to Nurmengard. They told each other almost everything; his own actions since losing Lily excluded from the discussion.

"Everyone thinks that we were separated for thirty years because of the kidnapping and, yes, he did need time after that, but…" The Hungarian accent bled into his voice in his upset, "He's so Catholic and, after it was all said and done, that was something he couldn't get past doing for a long time."

"Did you let it go?"

The seer laughed, "I wanted her dead and my husband back, but I'd have gladly given up the first for the latter."

"Are you telling me it might be thirty years before we get past this?"

"Hmm… They're descending on Albania at 10am. You can catch him in his office anytime during the hour before," Getting that far away look that he always did when using his sight to some extent, Gel huffed, "But, Harry's been exorcized of all squatters and is about to come through."

He barely had time give the warning before the floo fired and their grandson bounced out of the fireplace, "Hi!"

"Hello, darling. Did everything go alright?"

"Didn't feel a thing," Harry scrutinized Albus and his aura bled a dark navy of concern, "What happened to you?!"

Remembering that the fae's neck was on full display, Gellert's eyes went wide with panic. His mate was already waving the twelve year old off though, "Accident while destroying the other horcruxes. Dangerous business that."

"Fair enough!" Harry allowed, getting distracted by some of the pictures Albus had out of himself and Lily. 

"Did you manage to have a conversation with your father?"

"Yep! He even let me and Draco come down to the Chamber to excavate that basilisk! It was great!"

Albus just hummed.

"Did you manage to have a conversation with Pèpe?"

"I gave it my very best effort."

"Boo!!!"

He rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at the child of their pair, "You can see Gabby's influence from a mile off."

Harry shrugged and bounced closer, "What do you know about the Albania mission?"

"That it's seasoned aurors only," Albus quipped, "Twelve year olds need not apply."

"I can't wait to be an auror. Hope the old man knows I'm coming for his job one of these days!"

"Why don't you just rip my heart out now?" Gellert suggested.

He'd heard his hus… Gellert had the same argument with James all twenty-one years that boy was alive and Albus was in no mood to hear it with Harry too. Luck was on his side when the second year's stomach growled though, "But first, dinner. Off you trot."

"Right!"

Their grandson was gone out of the portrait in a blink and Gellert slid smoothly back into the vein of their original conversation, "You could feel for yourself that he's not mad at you. Just stop blocking your mating bonds."

"Gel…" He groaned when the siren leaned over to kiss his neck, before his greatest temptation ran the tip of his nose along the curve of Albus' shoulder and neck, right along the edge of the bruising from Percy's fingers, "Fuck."

"That is the idea."

Expert fingers undid the buttons on his vest before attacking his dress shirt, Gellert twisting to slip a leg over Albus until he was straddling the fae's lap. It was the yearning to feel Gellert that finally did him in. Not feel as they did with their physical bodies, but rather the feel that only mates could achieve with an open bond. Seeing through each other's eyes, feeling the other's emotions, and even sharing thoughts to the point that it was hard to tell where one started and the other stopped.

He threw open his bonds just as the siren's tongue slipped into his mouth and there was no sweeter temptation. The blonde had always tasted like mint, the air during a thunderstorm, and just a touch of sea salt. It was a pull that was easy to get lost in and always had been.

Until he felt the siren move to slip his shirt and vest off, then he froze and pulled away from the kiss as the overwhelming sensation of the bonds eased, and he was able to process how shocked Percy was, still sitting on a porch swing at his parents' house, “Gel, we can’t.”

“Why in Helheim not?”

“You were just talking about how torn up Percy was by the affair. I can’t…”

His differently colored eyes rolled, “You can spend as much time as you like in the land of denial, Albus, but we’re as married as Percy and I. Take your shirt off and I’ll prove it.”

“Gel…”

With a frustrated little huff, the Liberator sat back in his lap and attempted to elaborate, “It wasn’t… We’ve both slept with another man after marrying. I never wanted Percy sleeping with women; that was the difference.”

Albus couldn’t say that he was surprised by that; Gellert had a fem kink a mild wide and holding. Any other princess in his pond would have the siren ready to commit several crimes against the Geneva Convention, “Who…?”

“Percy’s best friend from childhood,” He shrugged and ran both hands on the fae’s chest, “They lived together, before we got married. We haven’t seen him since that week though.”

“Why not?”

“Well, Percy’s father was… ill pleased when we eloped. They’ve been fighting ever since and he’s kept Mat away, so we haven’t canoodled with him since.”

Gellert was wearing a straight line set of grey pants and a sky blue shirt, the latter of which Albus finally let his hands slip underneath, “And you don’t think he’ll mind you shacking up with me for the night?”

“He's more than welcome to show up and discuss it,” He purred in response, before his hands moved to throw off the Headmaster’s shirt once more.

Across his bond with Percy, Albus felt it when he was distracted by a new arrival, and knew he wouldn't be joining them tonight. A little jealous, knowing that he would much prefer the vampire be here, participating in the excursion, the fae had to remind himself that he made this mess. He’d talk to his mate the next morning and that was all he could demand of the vampire at this juncture, figuring that was a necessary first step before becoming territorial on any front.

He was unbuttoning the siren’s shirt when smooth hands ran up his bare arms and his… husband, because, yes, they were married, commented on the brands he’d gotten in his youth, “Don’t be surprised if Harry starts snooping around these.”

“Why?”

They weren’t anything grand. He had a gold lion with a red mane on his right shoulder, his marriage totem with Gellert on that forearm, and a familiar link in the form of a depiction of Fawkes on his left shoulder, along with a wand tattoo on that forearm. Everything but the familiar link, he’d had since Godric’s Hollow, even if the wand tattoo transformed after he dueled Gellert, and his siren mate had seen the last of them over firecalls.

“We were showing off our brands last night and I mentioned them.”

“Abby will be so thrilled,” He muttered, but his gaze still wandered over Gellert’s exposed arms and chest, “When did you get a…”

“I didn’t. Scar arts are a sort of brand though,” He shrugged and leaned over to kiss the fire fae when the man’s mood turned for the darker side of the moon at mention of the Liberator’s father, “It’s alright, Albie.”

“The hell it is,” He muttered.

He’d sent Gellert back to Durmstrang the victorious Triwizard Champion and his husband, thinking all was right with the world; his biggest concern was how to tell his mother that he’d gotten married without so much as a by your leave. By the time his lover had escaped to his Tante Hilda he’d been expelled from school and that was the lesser of the crimes committed against him. Albus had been murderous when he saw the scars on the sixteen year old’s back.

Faes might be associated with light magic, but anyone who thought they didn’t have a dark side was in serious denial. He’d done Gellert’s scar arts himself, but if he’d been able to sneak off to Hungary and murder Geralt Grindelwald, there was no doubt in his mind that he would have. Whatever end the bastard met had been too good for him.

His lover chuckled, “Percy would be infinitely offended, if he was paying attention.”

Albus was confused at first and then the implication struck him, as he was vaguely aware of his American mate and the vampire's best friend reconnecting in Louisiana, “Did he kill him?”

“Ate, to be precise,” His seer huffed.

“Sure, let the vampire extract revenge,” The ginger muttered, hands exploring the expanse of his mate’s shapely arms.

“He didn’t ask for my permission. No more than he did before going to Azkaban to see your old man.”

“He didn’t?”

“Don’t ask me for details, because he’s never shared them,” The blonde shrugged, “But, yes. He did.”

With a hum, Albus let his head fall to the back of the sofa, “I didn’t think he was allowed to fresh feed as an auror?”

“Only in America… Well, I suppose it’s the United Kingdom now,” The realization struck him that it was probably a good thing Albus was speaking to them, given Percy’s other pass time was off the table with his new job, “But, he’s protected under the Vampire Accords whenever he travels.”

Catching Gellert’s thoughts across their mating bond, now that it was open, Albus inquired as he unbuckled the siren’s belt, “What pass time?”

His husband froze above him and, when he looked up curiously, only tried to shrug it off, “Nothing, it’s not important.”

“Gellert…”

Shaking his head, the seer kissed him again, “Some genius you are.”

“You know, Abby said the same damn thing last night...”

He trailed off when Gellert seized hold of his wrists and inclined their foreheads together, “I let you get away with it the first time, because one does fall out of practice after nine decades, but now I’m holding you accountable to the rule.”

It took him a moment to realize what the other wizard meant, but when he did the strength of Gellert’s grasp wasn’t so tight that he couldn’t tug away to flip them over on the sofa, “Fine, it’s been too long since I got to taste you anyway.”

Sex of any sort with Gellert was so familiar that most wouldn’t suspect it had been as long as it had. Even their old rule about mentioning Aberforth in the figurative bedroom was like falling into an old habit. And as he realized that Percy was fully intending to have a similar reunion with Mateo Wolff tonight, it made him relax into the easy rhythm of his bond with the blonde Hungarian. 

He had the siren stripped to nothing in under ten seconds and didn’t even have to use magic to make it happen. And deep throating the blonde’s cock immediately pulled such a pretty string of Hungarian obscenities from the man that he never would have stopped if breathing wasn't a requirement.

As with most intimacies, Gellert liked a lot of tongue and, while Albus didn’t have the silver-tongue of a siren, he was perfectly apt at using his in a variety of ways. Smooth as silk hands locked in his hair when he played around the leaking tip, swirling and lapping to his heart’s content, “If you’re trying to kill me, there are more merciful ways to go about this.”

That made him laugh, “You know I’d never.”

Even to his own ears his voice was rougher that normal as he went back to his previous task. The marks around his neck only made sucking Gellert off all that much better, the invasion making him fight not to come in his pants like a school boy. But, Merlin, was it a close call.

In their youth neither had known the meaning of the word shame when in one another’s presence, so Albus was well aware when the seer was holding back on him. When he realized that the siren was trying to go easy on his throat, all he could manage was glaring up at the blonde, but it got the message across just as well and his mate started fucking his face with an eye roll. Most probably would expect it, but Gellert had always been the more gentle of their pair, the fae being the one who liked his intimacies as rough as he could get them.

It didn't take ten minutes before he heard that characteristic hitch which warned his lover was close. The previous Dark Lord gave a minute attempt at pulling away from him to try and hold on, but Albus had other ideas. He took the siren's perfect cock deep into his throat again and only stopped when the man started to cum; the point of this excursion was to taste him after all.

And his cum still tasted just like that perfect mouth.

"Why the hell did you do that?" Gellert demanded panting, "I wanted to keep going."

"You think we're done after one orgasm?" He demanded, wiping his lip off and then cleaning his thumb off with a quick lick, before crawling back on top of the seer, "Who's out of practice now?"

"Oh, fuck," His husband muttered, hands darting up to grip at Albus' shoulders.

That made him chuckle, "That is the idea."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You're all my valentines! Next chapter we have the Percy/Mat reunion and, I'm thinking, we'll still have room for Albus/Percy's first real... conversation. Also going to post Baby Harry Rescue in a couple of days! <3


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so very very sorry.

He made it to Azkaban in a blizzard of rage at the world and managed to scare the hell out of even Theseus. One look at Pettigrew and it was probably to his benefit that the need to give orders was non-existent, especially with his oldest just a step behind him. The dementors scattered in a million different directions at the sight of an angry vampire, their twisted abilities useless against a darker race, and Sirius' cell was unlocked with minimal fanfare, even if the green haired wizard was shaking as he did so; the young thing couldn't have been more than nineteen.

Percy's nephew was sitting just in front of the door and silver eyes blew wide at the sight of them. His robes were rags and his long hair was braided from beard to cranium; some vestige of the Black vanity still alive in there. He wouldn't feign surprise at the muscle or tattoos that Sirius had added to himself in the last decade. Tossing the unconscious traitor right in beside Orion's oldest, he ordered, "Get your ass up. We're leaving."

At thirty-three and holding the incarcerated wizard still jumped up like he'd been struck at the opportunity for freedom and he wasn't even a step over the cell threshold when Theseus went to hug him, fretting like a mother hen. He tolerated the fuss until he got his godson's wand and personal effects, but by the time his shoulder reached the wall next to the floo point Percy had just about enough, "Don't baby him. He was stupid enough to get himself into this mess."

The ghost of his best friend given flesh flinched and looked up at him through dark lashes like Percy had just reached out to do what he really wanted. Rushing the boy onto Nurmengard, so that Percy could follow Theseus to his new office at the Ministry of Magic, was the absolute best the Hard Charger could manage at that moment. His foot was still shaking at his undeniable need to stick it up every arse of that generation.

Seated behind his new ebony desk it was easy to hand the list of horcruxes over to Theseus, demanding the special operations teams find them, before ordering that Head Auror Shacklebolt complete a verification of Azkaban with any aurors not on call at the moment. It was after they left, as the orders were carried out and by nine o'clock in the morning he was finally alone in his office, when what he'd done began to catch up with him. And he could still feel the heat from Albus' throat in his hand as a vampire's constant companion fled him.

Rage certainly didn't last as long as it used to.

While guilt weighed so much more.

His own thoughts turned against the Director and swirled like a vortex for the rest of the day. How could he have done that to Albus?! Their last conversation had been when the boy was seventeen in a mating dream and he'd just hoisted the kid about like a ragdoll!

Fuck!!

This was a mess.

His mate hadn't done any harm on purpose.

And that was the cyclone of thought he was trapped in as the necessary parties arrived within the Wizengamot Chambers for an emergency session. Percy was already staring at the Chief Warlock seat, pointer finger splayed over his upper lip like it always was when he was upset, as a crackling sound was the only warning before Albus arrived with Fawkes. The energy of the room sprung to life and the excitable thoughts of surrounding witnesses pushed against his shield dauntingly. As the meeting started all that was interesting in his sights was the stylized 'M' watermark on his paperwork.

Until Alastor started running his trap faster than his ass could cash.

Percy did not come all the way across the pond to be insulted by a boy who'd apprenticed under him.

When the session ended he booked it out of there and ignored his fae's calls... He had an important meeting. As soon as his office was locked up he flooed to Nurmengard feeling like the lowest life form opposing a lion.

Percy changed clothes and threw his mating bond open with Gellert as soon as he'd cleared the wards, despite feeling like a coward even as he had the siren send Harry to Nurmengard from Hogwarts. The older seer had no problem using Harry's developing third eye to connect with him when they were on the same campus.

Of course, the Liberator was already playing fast and loose with the terms of his probation and the vampire called him on it. With Albus off site it meant that Gellert really couldn't be there at the moment, even just sitting on the Elder Wand Conqueror's sofa as he currently was reading the paper. When the brat suggested that Percy come to Hogwarts and punish him, if he was so damn concerned, he just rolled his eyes and waited for Harry to come through.

Looked like Sirius and Narcissa were holed up with the baby in the Marauders' old suite and he wasn't surprised. After three decades apart, Percy and Gellert had been like a volcano about to erupt when they'd finally gotten their hands on one another New Year's of '75. He couldn't imagine that a little over a decade between the sirens would be all that different.

He'd already changed his suit in for a pair of jeans and was getting his jacket when his grandson arrived in a cloud of green smoke, "Over here."

"Hi, Pèpe."

"Hey. Good day?"

"Yeah. Pops managed a whole conversation and didn't even give me detention," Harry noted while hopping over to hug him, "Didn't think he had it in him."

He couldn't help but purr at the second year, running his hand through curly locks where the boy was plastered against him, "What about Gingy?"

"Yep. Just gotta check in with Gabby tonight."

"Hmm…" Percy didn't think he'd get by the Hog's Head before the mission to Albania and hated that he'd somehow managed to miss his best friend all day, "Tell him I'll be by for lunch tomorrow."

"Okay!"

There was nothing left to do but send Harry through their direct connection to Loch Versailles, his parents' home in New Orleans, and he wasn't happy about it. He hadn't been back in decades and wasn't much looking forward to it now, even knowing damn well that the old man was on tour in Canada at the moment. If it wasn't Harry on the line, then he wouldn't be stooping to going back either.

He felt the privacy magic on the house trip when he was brushing himself off and figured that he had twenty minutes. The Ministry was more Albus' stomping ground than Percy's and by the time he exorcized Harry they'd be ninety-three years over due for a confrontation. He had that long to decide what to do about his fae mate.

Because Gellert was on the fucking prowl.

The parlor had been redone.

It was all brown leather furniture and warm wood floors these days. Percy noted, as he stepped out from the path of the floo, that Mamie must have gotten his way on the remodel this time. Nothing looked like french extravagance had one too many and puked all over the place.

And if he was still stewing bitterly as his grandson arrived, then that was the Hard Charger's business. He just waved for the twelve year old to follow him and started off toward the kitchen.

"Wait! Is that you?!"

No idea what the little lion could have seen to cause a hold up, Percy went back and followed his finger to where he had twisted around and discovered the old family portrait that was cast in shadows from the sinking sun. Looked like the old man hadn't been able to move it from above the fireplace, sentimentality taking him much to the vampire's surprise, "Yes."

"That's Lestat de Lioncourt!"

He rolled his eyes. Of course the twelve year old knew the most infamous rockstar of their world, "The one and only."

Harry made a grand gesture to the painting in an overall testament to his disbelief and curiosity. Though he'd rather eat dirt then give Brat Prince attention of any kind, Percy let his hands slip into his jean pockets and elaborated for the sake of time, "He's my grandfather and your great-great-great grandfather."

"Oh," He looked up at the pairing perplexed, "Alright… Who are the rest of them?"

"Let's move and talk at the same time, son." The price of his cooperation was an eye roll and Percy had far steeper offers in his day, so he explained as they crossed the kitchen, "That was Aunt Issy and Tio Lobo with me in the painting."

"The twins' mother? But, there were six other people," He noted impatiently after recalling the one thing he knew about the Patil twins' mother being the Hard Charger's twin sister, "I want name, rank, and serial number here, Pèpe."

"I've got that information too," Percy promised, flicking on the light to move them into the basement.

Harry looked down the cement steps and finally froze. He was a little surprised that it had taken this long, as Jimmy's soon had already proven smart as a whip, but Percy had talked men into far more sketchy a scenario, "Wait. What are we doing?"

"I was wondering when that might come up." He had his hand on the boy's shoulder as they were moving but wasn't trying to actually restrain him, so when Harry backed up to the kitchen counter it just fell away. Percy let the same hand wander into his pocket and scoffed, "I was only teasing."

He saw much of Severus and his baby sister in the look he was given, and Percy didn't think chuckling was helping to buy him out of the dog house any, so he moved to explain, "Remember how we were talking about horcruxes last night? You asked about a living thing's ability to bear the soul fragment?"

"I said that?"

"In a fashion."

"O-kay…?"

"But, what it takes to create a horcrux? It's a cruel and vile act of selfishness; taking of innocent life. Like…" Percy sighed and suggested, "Like taking an unarmed man's wand and murdering him, just for the sake of murdering his pregnant wife and baby boy. The problem with breaking glass, though, is that once it starts the shattering persists. And even faced with death in the form of a backfiring curse, the soul coped as it had in the past and shattered further…"

He ran his pointer finger across the lightning bolt scar, where he'd wandered over to the island bar the rest of the kitchen was built around, and Percy hated it when big green eyes flew up to face him in a panic, "Oh, bollocks."

"Now, we have to get it out." 

"And you can do that?!" Harry's hand fisted tightly in the lower lapel of his businessman cut leather jacket that packed more than a few surprises.

"Yes."

He didn't know if his grandson was expecting more or less, but suddenly the boy was plastered against him just like he'd been before going off to breakfast, "Don't leave me with these incompetent people ever again!"

Percy rolled his eyes, but returned the hug, before waving him down the stairs and reminding, "I wanted you to floo over that first Yule."

"I didn't know what that meant!"

"I know that now," His confession was bitter. At the bottom of the stairs he lit torches and offered when he got a befuddled glance, "Your magic won't work in the tombs." Severus bled back into his grandson's expression and Percy snorted so hard that his nose hurt, "You go through the tombs to get to the exorcism lab."

"It's like my first day in Oz all over again," Harry seemed to resign himself as they moved off into the maze of copper walls, "Fine. Go back to the painting."

"There isn't that much to tell, son," He chuckled as they started moving through the maze of copper that his family had always referred to as tombs. They'd been here before Percy was born and he wasn't sure how the identification started, but suddenly he was curious, "The old man had that commissioned back before I even became an auror. It's just a family portrait."

"But who were all those other people?!"

Percy rolled his eyes and thought back to painting, grateful that his mating bond with Gellert had been disrupted by their movement into the most protected part of Loch Versailles, "The old man is known far and wide, as you demonstrated. The man next to him is his mate, Louis de Pointe du Lac, my mamie…"

"Does anyone in this family have the same name?!"

That made the vampire laugh, "No, but that's a vampire thing." He elaborated when green eyes cut up to him, looking just like Little Copper when she'd been waiting for him to make himself useful over one topic or another, "There is a difference between born and turned vampires. Though they are many, for our purposes, one of the main differences is that being turned ceases the ability to channel magic through the soul in the same way."

Harry nodded, seeming to already know that, and clarified, "So, you can't use a wand."

"Along with some other facets, like being unable to bear children as a man," Percy noted with a shrug, "Of course, many a young girl was tricked into doing so by a vampire claiming complete infertility."

"Twisted," Harry noted as he readjusted his grip on the torch and his eyes rolled.

"True. Born vampire's also carry and pass on a family name to their children," Percy explained, "When a turned vampire has a child they're considered the beginning of a new line and given a new name."

Harry looked perplexed by the tradition and the much older wizard continued.

"Anyway, my grandparents wanted children after they were turned," He was determined to get them through this conversation prior to getting into the lab and turned the next corner in a hurry, "They tried turning a young girl named Claudia… That ended about as well as you'd expect."

Harry snorted and kept listening, even as his sights moved to take in the seeming endless walls of copper surrounding them.

"Then Mamie met a siren named Violetta Beauvais…"

That seemed to be a name the near teenager recognized, because he sprung to attention somewhere just being his grandfather, "The cuckoo American wandmaker who messed with rougarou hairs?!"

Percy didn't know which whipped around first, his head or his torch, but Harry didn't even have enough awareness of their family to look sheepish and that made him huff past the indignation, "Yes, that one. She was sitting on the opposite end of the sofa from Mamie." He described the golden monstrosity that the old timers had been sitting on and waved off the story in between as unimportant, "And eventually he convinced the old man to have their first daughter, my mother, Isolt Graves, with Lady Beauvais' wife, Isolt Sayre."

Harry sprung up again, "The founder of Ilvermorny?!"

"What? She's not known for her eccentricities?" He teased and let himself be moved when Harry shoved playfully behind him.

His grandson seemed to be relaxing into the information and was back underneath the vampire's arm as they finished the last stretch of the walk, Harry's thoughts going back to the ghost white woman with pitch black hair and eyes, "She looks like Pops."

"Well, that portrait was before Grandma Eileen was born, but we all took after Nana," He had to scoff as they got to the halfway point, "Certainly before he became Prince of Vampire Society. Again… That was before I became an auror."

"When was it?"

"Eighteen seventy… five? No, that's right. It was the last holiday we went on before I joined the force."

"And you lived here?"

"When I was a kid. I moved to New York City with Mateo in 1825; we were just home for Time of the Blood in the painting."

Harry's nose wrinkled as they finally approached a doorway of royal blue crystal, "I didn't get a good look at him. Can we go back?"

Percy laughed and maneuvered the Gryffindor into his mother's lab, "Let's do the exorcism first."

"Okay…" Harry looked around the new room. It really did look a bit like Oz, copper and blue crystals spiralling together on every floor, ceiling, and wall. The lot came together to make him dizzy and he blinked rapidly while grabbing onto his great grandfather's arm, "What do I do?"

"Come over here and lay down," Percy instructed and he got the boy onto the floor, his dark head centered at the heart of the room where the vortex began, "Don't be scared, it's just me."

His grandson looked confused until Percy let his darker form show. Black veins rose to the surface over his body and long talons transformed from his fingernails. Even though he wanted to give Harry a moment to adjust, the Director just wasn't expecting his grandson to reach up without the common sense God gave a goose and poke him in the cheek, "Really?!"

"Sorry," Harry flushed rose red and burst into a fit of horrified giggles, backtracking bashfully, "Should have asked first."

It was so much like Lily to have to apologize for putting the cart before the horse, "You are your mother's son. Lay back down." He got back in position and Percy just scoffed as he sat down next to the right brat, "The Dumbledore is strong with this one."

"Pèpe!" Harry shoved him again and Percy repositioned his head accordingly, but by the time his grandson was back in position his mind had wandered, "Why have you let him get away with the last century?"

To be completely honest, he got sick of everyone thinking that he was somehow letting Albus do a damn thing, but Percy couldn't exactly say that. As if he hadn't been trying to goad the fae into talking to him for decades on end. As if he wouldn't give anything to be acknowledged by the Headmaster of Hogwarts and wouldn't have done it long before he ever took the position; he'd wanted Albus Dumbledore since he was just a young genius facing his last year in school. And, for ninety five years come June 30th since their last conversation, he had no more answers for the last century then anyone else.

But it had certainly never been his choice that counted.

"I've had my own form of protest these last nine decades," He informed, instead of trying to explain a history that he was currently avoiding to their grandson, and let his eyes bleed red as Percy instructed, "Make eye contact."

Percy had to smile when they got into Harry's mind palace and the room of white clouds instantly made his grandson's mental presence jump a foot in the air, "Bloody hell!"

It made him smile, "You're so British and it's going to bug the hell out of him."

"Who?"

"No one," He dismissed the topic with an alternative, "Would you let me have my wand here?"

"Sure?"

"Thank you," The tool appeared in his hand and Percy gestured to the clouds, "We're looking for something that doesn't belong. Find it."

"Where is here?" Harry demanded, running his hands over the white mist walls in wonder.

"We're in your mind palace, son. You should really be showing me around."

"It looks like King's Cross!"

"Does it?" Percy looked around, but had to shrug, "You've been to one sub station, you've seen them all."

"Bloody Americans."

Two generations of Potter men eyed one another across the platform and Percy had to scoff, "Theseus is going to love you."

Harry grinned and then got distracted by a groaning from underneath one of the benches, "Is this what you were looking for?"

The skeletal and half formed creature was startling to look at and Percy made quick work of it with a killing curse. Then he had to chuckle when Harry looked back and forth between him and the piece of Tom Riddle's soul slowly, before the vampire held up his ebony and American Turul feather wand as emphasis, "Always know who you've given power in your own mind."

Harry blinked big green eyes up at him from the floor of the lab, "That was an exorcism?"

"That was an exorcism." Percy promised, "Anyone who tells you differently is selling something."

"How long were we… Uh…"

"It's been one minute since you laid down."

"Huh." He crossed his feet at the ankles and reclined back on an elbow to look up at the twisting ceiling of the lab, "So you were how old in the portrait?"

"I was seventy-five and aged up to my late forties," He bared it with a shrug, "I needed to look like I knew what the hell I was doing, but had all my testosterone out in front of the auror department."

"You were the first vampire auror ever."

Dark eyes rolled, because that was ridiculous, "I was the first they gave credit." He waved Harry up and they grabbed their torches from the slots in the copper walls, "I was born New Year's Day of 1800."

"Okay, okay, fine. We're distantly related to Lestat de Lioncourt…" Harry allowed and when he waved his hand nonchalantly, just like Gellert, that was the appropriate description, "Who in the world were your parents?!"

"Isolt Graves; she was born and raised in Louisiana and became an exorcist consultant for MACUSA when she was seventeen. The original daughter of Ilvermorny married Percival Potter, who was named for his profession and minding his own business in Godric's Hollow of 1798, when her vampire mating dream interrupted their lives the night she turned twenty-five."

"What happened to them?"

"He died while attending an event in his wife's name called the Bloody Convocation..."

"I read about that in History," Harry noted, "They said it was another noted slaughter of the darkly inclined."

"Your great-great grandfather was just caught in the crossfire," He couldn't say much more about the man that he'd never met, "He was only a wizard."

"That was… What? April of seventeen ninety…nine?"

"It was a quick turn around. My mother passed from a combination of childbirth and mating withdrawal."

"I'm sorry, Pèpe."

He tugged the boy in for a hug with his free arm, "Son, it was nearly two centuries ago."

It always seemed like the trip out was shorter than the trip in, but getting back to the kitchen was a relief. Percy didn't think his grandson cared much for his satisfaction, because he was already booking it back to the parlor. Following him, the vampire just used his and Gellert's bond to warn the siren that he was about to send Harry through, even as Albus had apparently just arrived back to school.

The longtime auror had to admit that he felt a certain tension in his neck with Harry being at Loch Versailles. It was the first time that he'd been to the house since the old man hauled Mat back below the mason-dixon line, all because Percy decided to get married at a century old, God for fucking bid. His presence was an act of defiance, Harry's was a concession of sorts, and maybe he had to admit that, even a hundred years after they'd stopped speaking, Percy just wasn't over it yet.

Not enough to let the french bastard near his line.

Bringing Harry here was strictly a necessity. And if he could get the boy out of here before he was caught, then Percy might still be able to wrap this up by tomorrow's lunch and relax at the Hog's Head until his majesty snapped.

The little lion didn't share his sense of urgency and it was getting dark, so Percy hit the lights in difference to his young sight as he studied the painting above the fireplace. The Hard Charger didn't have to wonder for long on what his grandson saw, "Were you there under protest?"

"Well, that's not a bad way to put it," He had to confess of the way that Issy's back was plastered against his while Percy could remember sitting on the arm of the golden monster. Her legs were extended over the back of the sofa, disrupting the attempt at regality by their par… 

The painter had certainly managed to capture the older quartet's exasperation with them. He could remember sitting with his arms crossed in the space between the sofa arm and its adjacent chaise, in a cross attempt to bear the room for a couple of hours, and barely tolerating the need to hold up Issy's weight in the heat, where they were back to back for the duration. All until Mat had reached over his head for Percy's hand, where his twin flame had been thrown over that ugly yellow chaise of the old man's for the sake of comfort. Harry was watching the magical painting's carefree movements as their fingers entangled with such reverence and Percy was perplexed.

He didn't look all that different back then. About a decade older than he was now, yes. And his hair had been a bit longer, brushing the tips of his shoulders with untamed curls since Flea hadn't invented SleekEasy yet, in addition to Percy having a beard back then. But other than a few silver streaks that had been in his hair, it was just him enduring a family portrait.

"And you and Wolff were dating?"

He had to laugh, "That's about as classy a way as you could put it." Harry's nose wrinkled in a dead ringer for his mother at the comment causing confusion and it cut to the quick, so he deflected by staying on topic, "He used to wish me luck becoming an auror with him as my rent boy. It's why he hadn't aged a day past twenty-five by that point."

Harry looked just a bit scandalized, "He didn't approve of you being an auror?"

"No one in the family did after we lost my mother." Saving him from having to further elaborate was the gurgling of the Gryffindor's stomach, "Off you go. Remember, Nurmengard, then Hogwarts' Headmaster Su…"

"...Suite," Harry finished with him, "I know, Pèpe." Orion's green eyes blinked up at him from dark lashes, "I look like him."

"You would have been named Mat, had your father gotten his way," He revealed, "He was both my kids' godfather."

"Can I meet him?"

"Sure. Why don't we meet up at the Hog's Head tomorrow for lunch?" Percy had been letting the idea fester from the moment he sensed Mat's magic on the house, but that was the moment he made the conscious decision that he wasn't leaving without his best friend. Once he'd made it a profound sensation of excitement bloomed in his chest, "I'll bring him by after we get back from Albania."

"Albania?"

"Don't worry, it's not as far as it sounds," Percy chuckled.

Harry grinned up at him and Percy got a bad feeling, "Aunt Issy is your twin, but who's older?"

"We are exactly the same age." 

Harry nodded in understanding and patted his forearm in a gesture that he thought was supposed to be consoling, "She's older."

He hugged the tiny seeker and gave a play growl. His grandson was so much bigger than he used to be, but he hadn't hit that first growth spurt of puberty yet and every boyish moment struck him for the decade he'd missed. Percy hadn't purred this much since he was still a bachelor.

Looking at the family portrait again, silent as it was across the house, he could still hear the same sound he'd made when Mat reached for his hand. And he'd had it up to here with the old man's temper tantrum. Not that his best friend wouldn't take some convincing.

Stepping back through to the kitchen and grabbing a beer from the refrigerator, Percy was parking his ass on the porch swing to wait out the Thunderbird as Harry got back to school. He was watching through Gellert's eyes as the boy arrived in a flurry, after kicking his legs up on the porch railing and popping the top of his drink using the arm of the swing. The Gryffindor bounced between his mates and he flinched when Harry's attention immediately went to Albus' neck.

Of course it did though. Copper Top looked like he'd been… Percy had managed to cross every boundary Albus ever put between them and he didn't even remember most of it.

He knew what happened and what he'd done, this wasn't some desperate insanity defense. It was just… As they approached nine and a half decades since the fae's mating dream, he'd just wanted a reaction.

Something.

Anything.

And he'd gotten it.

Maybe not the reaction he needed.

Certainly the one he wanted.

It had been almost a century since he kissed Albus in their mating dream and he'd seen the same excited light in the fae's eyes then. Percy used to see it whenever he'd be hassling the grinning Chief Warlock at work, trying to make Albus speak to him, and the Director had to admit that he'd missed it. He'd given up trying before Harry was born, but that split second before he stormed off was more haunting than any spirit.

Yes, he thought about kissing the fae, just to say he'd managed it twice, right before storming off to haul Peter's ass to Azkaban. Though he hadn't, the lost chance was like a movie playing out in his head, and as his grandson declared to be coming for his job before he ran off, Percy couldn't think about anything else.

Gellert knew this.

And never let it be said that his husband could stop himself from playing when the chess board was set.

The sensation when Albus threw his bonds open had Percy dropping his head to the back of the swing. Just feeling the fae was an overwhelming sensation. His mate was like facing down a live wire; he felt everything all the time and just feeling through the emphatic empath was an addiction. He had just a moment to adjust to the open bond before Gellert tried to goad him into joining them, then noise from the garden gate around back had him sticking to his original plan.

Sipping his beer, Percy had to laugh at Albus' small flare of jealousy, especially when the Headmaster immediately felt guilty about it. The vampire couldn't give him much of a hard time given what he'd done to the fire fae's less than becoming lovers over the years and he didn't mind the younger wizard's territorial tendencies. Even if he was going to have to share with Mat and Gellert at the end of the day.

The shortest trail between Loch Versailles and Wolff Woods, the plantation next door that was his best friend's menagerie specializing in direwolves, came right up to Mamie's garden around the back of the house. He could hear the old black cast iron gate open as the vampire left behind moved around the side of the house, but one would think he was the seer in his marriage for the way that Percy could see it happening. If he had to guess, the literal wolf moving at Mat's side was the wizard's familiar, Amarok.

"...ort of idiot would be snooping around here? ¡Dios mío! And I thought these assholes had no self preservation in the eighties..."

He had to grin as happiness danced across every one of his nerve endings. Percy could tell the moment that Amarok picked up his scent, because the old boy went to howling and charged around the side of the house ahead of his human to stare right at the Director as he did so, being the primary reason that the Hard Charger looked up from the porch roof.

"Amarok! ¡Venga! ¡Cállate hombre!" Mat's exasperated yell was so familiar, he honest to God still got butterflies at knowing the man was twenty yards away. The vampire could feel his lover's frustration as the direwolf, who was five feet tall when sitting back on his haunches if he was an inch of four, just kept right on with his announcement, "¡Joder! ¡Porque no!"

Mateo emerged around the side of the old white mansion, viewable off the porch between the white columns, and he'd be damned if the vampire didn't look good enough to eat. For someone who'd stayed in his lower twenties to make Percy's life difficult throughout the previous century, he'd aged up over the last couple wars to thirty-five and it worked well for him. No surprise, if the caramel colored American was laying around at home before the magical alarm tripped, his Thunderbird was in grass stain cover jeans that had been worn from working outside, a white undershirt, and a navy, red, and white flannel that was rolled up to his elbows and left unbuttoned. It was no shock that he'd brought his guitar along for the trip over either.

Percy let his voice drop down to that deep bass range he knew drove the mere baritone crazy when he ordered, "Watch your mouth." He watched with a smirk as big green eyes flew toward the swing to see him sip his beer, "There were children present not five minutes ago."

"¡Qué susto!" The wolf remarked sarcastically after taking him in from the side of the porch, gesturing to the waterway up ahead and its backdrop of woods, "You made it past the lake!"

Percy scoffed and rolled his eyes. When Theseus had broken him out of Nurmengard he'd come back to his parents' place after running the largest prisoner of war unit ever managed right under Gellert's nose. No one had known he was alive but Mateo, who'd been running the other end of their operation under the old man's nose from Wolff Woods, since the Prince of Vampire Society had refused to move against his son in law. They'd made relieved love up on the shore before Percy had heard about Albus' claiming of the Elder Wand and gone to make sure his husband wasn't thrown in Azkaban.

All before he'd managed to lose his temper and slept with that witch, after Albus continued to ignore him and Gellert was imprisoned. He wasn't proud of the affair, but it happened. He'd lost access to Mateo in gaining his freedom, because the old man wouldn't let him leave Louisiana unless there was a war on, and his mates had been so very far out of reach.

He'd convinced himself that anyone would do.

Of course, his twin flame had long since predicted how Percy was determined to make his return to this particular property, "Who would have thought? The twelve year old got exorcized and it didn't require a bloody insurrection or anything."

The tilt of his head was as much a question as the words would have been, even as Mat put it all together, "Exorcize the tw… Henry Jr? He's here?!"

In a flash the wolf had hopped up on the porch and jumped the railing. Percy rolled his eyes at the God awfulness that was his legal first name and grabbed the other vampire's hand when he went to open the screen door to the house, "I already sent him back to school."

Silence answered him as the wolf's face shattered.

"You selfish son of a…" His other hand slammed the door shut so hard it rattled the frame and the oldest living Potter knew when he'd put himself between a rock and hard place.

"Hey, now!" Percy scolded, tugging him over to the swing as he defended himself, "You'll see him tomorrow."

"Will I?" Mat huffed as he pulled away, arms crossing when the vampire perched on the railing by his Wampus' feet, and appraisal guarded his usually easy expression, "Does this mean you're done being a jackass?"

With a hum he recalled what Jimmy always used to say when asked any utteration of the question and understood his son's answer for the first time as he took a long swig from his drink, "I have not yet begun to defile myself."

"Percy…" He trailed off even as he reached for the beer and downed half the long neck in a go once he had it.

Dark eyes watched every gulp, then flicked up the length of the bottle to hold his emerald gaze that hadn’t move off the paler vampire for a moment. Purring, Percy assured, "Relax. We're going on a mission to be rid of my son's murderer in the morning and meeting Harry for lunch."

"Are we? You finally gonna run away with me, Cabrón?" His voice was teasing, but also curious.

Percy had all his shields down and it was effortless to share his mental presence with another vampire as he stood up stretching. Both of them were vaguely aware of what Albus and Gellert were doing in Hogwarts, when Percy moved to pin Mat against the railing and made the traditional counter offer, "I'll do you one better. Marry me?"

Mateo just bubbled over with a delighted laugh and slipped his arms around Percy's neck. The smile on his face was so much like the century before, even if he'd aged up by a decade. A memory danced across Percy's mind of Gellert at sixteen years old realizing that he and the vampire aged up to twenty-five lived for the same thing in that cheap bar on Broadway, with its watered down alcohol and only one acceptable motivation for involving oneself with anyone else's business back in '99; as snow fell they'd realized hand in hand that their joint job was to drive Percy to an early grave and been friends ever since. Being able to feel both of them and their affection for the memory was the most satisfied he'd been since eloping.

He felt a slight twinge from Albus across their bond, who was moving Gellert to his bedroom in Hogwarts, but the Hard Charger wouldn't apologize for living a life the fae hadn't wanted to be a part of. His twin flame purred and kissed him gently as all other thoughts fled the Director. Percy stroked the scratchy dusting of hair that suggested the wizard hadn't felt like shaving for a couple of days, but it always got on his nerves before growing into anything distinguishable.

When they finally pulled apart Mat reclined their foreheads together, but that was as far as either man made it towards separating, though Percy intertwined their hands just in case the wolf got any ideas. It was no wonder when Mat's laughter was just a bit horrified, "Did you and Père reach an accord and no one told me?"

"No, but he won't be back for a couple months. Tour just started."

Mat scoffed and seemed to deflate completely in tone alone, "Have you lost your mind? You keep him, and by extension me, from Flea and Jimmy. You show up for Time of the Blood once a decade and claim to have left the husband and kids at home. You hide Harry away for a decade and make it clear you don't intend to make peace..."

Percy nodded along with every point, even if the last was contestable as his fault.

"Now you show up with Harry when he's not here, retire from MACUSA only to move across the pond, and say we're going to abscond on a mission!" The vampire pulled his hands away to gesture wildly in the little space between them, "And you're trying to tell me that after all that he's just going to agree to peace and marry us in two years?"

"Yes." Exasperated green eyes glared at him and the Director chuckled. Placing a kiss on his nose, Percy turned to go back inside, "Let's go upstairs. I need a shower."

It took a few moments after the screen door shut behind him, Mateo probably studying the lake in hopes for a sign of some sort, but Percy finally heard the other vampire move to follow him, once he'd already started up the stairs to the bedrooms, "Vamos, Amarok. ¡Tío Turul finalmente se volvió loco!"

That made him laugh.

He heard the direwolf run off from the porch and the door open. Throwing his jacket over the chair near the bedroom's entrypoint, an idol thought about how long it would take his lover to find Percy danced across his mind.

It wasn't hard to track the muttering vampire through the house and Percy heard his slight confusion from the ensuite bathroom, where he was already turning on the shower as Mat reached the top of the stairs. The bedrooms had been redone along with the rest of the house and he had to admit that black ebony wood, silver metal accents, and matching silk mixtures of both colors made the home's Master suite look very regal. The Hard Charger refused to think too hard about whose design it probably was.

"What are you doing?!" His Thunderbird yelled at finally tracking him down. Percy was still rinsing the SleekEasy from his hair in the sink as the wolf ran both hands through the many layers of his shoulder length razor cut and groaned as he paced across the bedroom floor, "What?! Are you gonna fuck me in his bed before smuggling me away?!"

"Yes," He noted again, ironically, before clarifying, "But first in his shower. Then maybe in his kitchen. And, hell, maybe even on his porch swing."

"Percy!"

"It's not a checklist," He teased, "We can improvise."

Dark green gems rolled in his direction fondly and Mateo let himself be wrapped up in his arms again for a kiss, so his overreactions were mostly just for show, "Even my wildest depictions couldn't keep up with you, Colonel."

He had to scoff at the reference to Mat's old show. His best friend had always been the creative type; it was no shock that he owned most of Hollywood after building up the television and movie industries over the last century. Percy had just never expected the man to use their own wartime adventures for entertainment purposes.

"Jimmy lived for that shit," He noted of his second son that his first lover had never gotten to meet, because the old man had hauled him back down south, "From the time it premiered when he was five until it went off the air before he started school."

"Really?" Mat grinned and kissed him again, "Did he know Hogan was based on you?"

"Nanny blabbed," Percy confessed, letting his shirt be unbuttoned with a huff, "I could have done without reliving that shack from Korea for a decade."

"I needed to get it out.”

His whisper was quiet and the mere inch taller wizard instantly felt like a heel. They’d fought a lot of wars together, but Mat was a healer despite choosing to be a Thunderbird in school, and he’d taken a lot of flack for a century of trying to save lives while the rest of their team usually specialized in taking them; Percy chief amongst the lot. If Gellert hadn’t had a vision of him getting hit with a chestful of silver shrapnel in March of ‘53, if Percy’s husband hadn’t convinced the old man to let their wolf come running, after two and a half years of the Brat Prince insisting that it was a police action and not a fucking war, then he wouldn’t be here to tell the tale today, "I didn't mean it like that, Llorona."

"I know."

Percy kissed him softly and pulled the darker vampire into the steamy bathroom, tugging the door closed behind them. Mateo’s mother had been a vampiress from Brazil and his father a native from the North Carolina mountains; they’d settled in the middle before having their son. He’d been born a mere month and thirteen days after Percy and they’d bonded over losing parents to the Bloody Convocation. Stripping the green eyed vampire of everything but the turul and thunderbird feathers that he wore in his hair was easier than taking off his own clothes.

The wolf didn’t need an instruction manual either. The major, who could have easily been a lieutenant colonel by the time Korea happened, if he’d been able to keep his mouth shut and his fists to himself, always tended to let his mouth do the leading. Before he could focus on anything else, Percy’s back was hitting the warm shower wall and Mat was on his knees under the spray. With the most cursory glance at his mating bond with Gellert, he realized that the siren was doing his absolute best to imitate everything Mateo was doing to him on Albus, and had to roll his eyes.

His fae mate and the newly open bond were a bit hazy for having gone unused as a form of magic for decades, but just having it open was a plethora of information. Albus knew who Mateo was, but the history was unclear. They knew one another from the scene and were doing their damnedest not to draw any attention to the fact, even with the entire Atlantic between them.

Like Percy wasn't well aware how both men coped following the turn of the last century.

It was hard to feign an energy of concern over it when his lover's mouth was lax and letting him have his absolutely wicked way. He’d admit that being with his best friend was so familiar it was easy to just relax into his mouth and go blank for a few minutes. Harry was still a little young to know about all the perks that came with a vampire inheritance, but the lack of need to breathe after coming into the full of it at twenty-five was pretty great. The changes to the mouth, not just fangs, but especially the macroglossia of their tongues after the fact, were also damn advantageous.

And he knew that Mat had caught the thought as Percy came in his mouth, because the musician couldn’t stop laughing as his forehead dropped against the older vampire’s thigh. That wasn’t all together unusual; the wolf always said that his best friend invented the concept of ‘thighs that could choke a bear’. But after a moment’s inspection, Percy didn’t think that’s what had the vampire’s stomach knotting, especially not from anxiety.

It was like he’d told Little Copper a couple decades ago, when she’d first realized that he’d developed his soul into channeling empathic magics just as easily as she could, anyone was capable of anything if they had the discipline and brains. Where for faes, like her and Albus, it was a naturally occurring ability, anyone was capable of learning to do it. Just like anyone could learn to shield their mind without being a vampire, the species' abilities naturally leaning toward occlumency and legilimency.

“Hey, Llorona…” Strong fingers ran through long dark strands and he prodded gently, “You want to talk about it?”

It took a minute.

And it usually didn’t.

Not with Mateo.

Percy finally felt a delicate kiss press into his inner thigh before the healer insisted vehemently, “We didn’t do anything. I swear on my mother’s grave, Perce, nothing.”

Then it took another minute.

Because he didn’t even think twice about it.

He’d seen it cross Mat’s mind. 

Him and Albus met at a party. 

The old man’s party after Korea ended.

And, yes. 

The implication did strike him after a second to really consider it. If Lestat de Lioncourt threw a party to celebrate anything, then there was a long list of sexual activities mandated to go on in the background. It's how the old man worked.

It wasn't new information that Albus had been very active in the fetish community either, long before it could have actively been called a community. He'd had a reputation by the time he had his mating dream at seventeen and Percy had known that even when they'd appeared in that room of red clouds. The fae had since hooked up with every reputable dom on both sides of the pond and some of the seedier ones as Percy's palate could testify.

Except for Mateo Wolff and himself, apparently.

Slipping his hand under Mat's chin he pulled him up to steal another kiss, “I believe you.” That didn’t mean that after they’d kissed for a few minutes, as the taste of himself faded and turbulent emotions continued to rip at the wolf’s insides, Percy didn’t fully intend to pry, “What happened?”

Albus and Gellert were officially gearing up for round three and distracted. He didn’t shield his bonds from them or anything, but Percy did put them on the far side of his magic, just as a sort of dissuasion from them paying too much attention to Mateo’s story. Whatever happened, his fae mate had restrained the memory deep in his mind palace and had pointedly started ignoring them as much as he was able once he saw the wolf, so clearly the Headmaster didn’t want to relive it; not a good sign.

Sharing memories was easy for vampires and he wasn’t caught off guard by his lover’s big eyes bleeding red, then he was standing in the midst of Loch Versailles at its busiest. Mateo hadn’t joined him in the memory though he could have, but Percy got the sense that he didn’t want to think about it either. He was only sharing because he thought the Director needed to know before he found out some other way.

The party had certainly been lively enough back in ‘53. They’d ended the war at the end of July and by mid-August he’d heard of the event, so Percy could only assume this was somewhere in between. The house was lit up with enough twinkling lights to be confused for Christmas and just as he’d predicted drinking was the least of the activities being partaken in on the lawn.

It didn’t take him long to spot Mateo and Mamie. His wolf was on the porch swing and his pale counterpart was sitting on the railing. They were both smiling, but Percy knew how heartbroken his lover had been when they left Korea fighting and recognized that their mother was trying to pick him back up. Mat had wanted him to make peace with the old man and Percy wanted his twin flame to come to New York even if it meant a vampire civil war. It struck him as he watched the memory that it had been four decades since that fight as they were hauling back to the States and he hated that it had been the last time they saw each other before today.

His majesty was nowhere in sight and Percy had just moved to sit on the railing next to the only mother figured that he ever knew when the memory kicked off. Even in the past he could hear everything Mat did and growled when the most irritating voice to ever assault his ears became clear about twenty yards away. Fucking Armand.

He shouldn't even be surprised the bastard was involved if his twin flame was so upset.

"...looking for some entertainment you'll find no better than Mateo Wolff. I'm actually shocked you've never met him before," Percy didn't need to see the red haired or hazel eyed boy to hate his guts. It was charming when his lover and Mamie met identical green eyes in a roll upon hearing his approach, "He's been very active in the community since… Well, the early 1900s, I suppose."

"It wasn't meant to be," Albus' rich voice was a perfect combination of dulcet and whimsical. It always had been.

Percy admitted, even as he waited on a clearly approaching confrontation, that he'd always loved the Chief Warlock's voice. Even in courtrooms and worst case scenarios across almost a century, he was soothed just hearing the fae. Onyx eyes flicked to the stairs alongside his family as the pair of redheads stepped up to join them.

His mate didn't look all that different from when he'd seized the Elder Wand from Gellert. A few more gray streaks marked his scarlet locks, but it was a very distinguished look, and Percy had always been unable to deny the younger man's appeal. Who wouldn't want just one night with him?

Armand was still talking as they crossed the porch to absolutely no one's surprise, "Mateo and I had a small tryst back in the previous century. I can't quite recall when we ended things though…"

"Immediately," The wolf noted without a moment's hesitation, lifting his drink to his lips, "I never make the same mistake twice."

Even Mamie chuckled, despite the dark haired man's attempt to scold the younger vampire, "Mat!"

The teenager looking sixteen, if that, rolled his eyes and continued, "Louis, Mateo, I wanted to introduce you to my new friend. This is Albus Dumbledore..."

Two things happened at once. Mat turned predatory green eyes that were all a hunting wolf stalking its prey on Albus. And Mamie's eyes flicked between glaring at Armand and going bug-eyed when he looked at the fae, switching back and forth about five times in two seconds.

Percy had to laugh as he watched, even if the sound was a bit horrified.

“...I was thinking that the two of you might hit it off!” The scarlet vampire suggested merrily, totally unaware of the shitstorm he’d just started. It wasn’t a surprise. The only person who knew that Albus was his other mate outside of the family was Marius back then.

Little Copper hadn't hidden the information once James told her, convinced she could make them communicate.

Mat took another sip of his drink and just stared.

Taking another look at the glass Percy determined that it might have once been his best friend’s usual brew. A little carbon water, lemon, lime, and vodka; since the sixties he’d just used Sprite for convenience, or so he heard from Nanny. The lack of bubbles and mostly melted ice in the half full glass suggested that at some point in the last bit, the Thunderbird had mostly just started drinking vodka.

“Armand, I don’t think…”

“Why not?” Mat interrupted, his voice almost a growl as he stood up, “What harm ever came from getting to know somebody?”

Even just watching the memory as an impartial observer, Percy got the jab that no one but Mamie got in that moment.

“Mat…”

“Let’s go upstairs,” His wolf suggested, gesturing to the house.

“Mateo!”

Innocent green eyes wandered over to the masculine Snow White and his smile turned deceivingly gentle, “Yeah, Mamie?”

The turned vampire didn’t say a word. Green eyes just flicked down to the glass still in the younger man’s hand and back up to hold his gaze. It was a warning; Mat was drunk and needed to walk away.

It was no surprise when the wolf had other ideas. He took another sip, before wandering over and setting it on the railing next to the reigning Prince of Vampire Society’s consort like a peace offering. Realizing that his adopted son was hellbent to go down this path, he sighed and accepted the kiss on the cheek with a resigned grimace. 

Mat just grinned, “We’re just going to go talk. Don’t worry so much.”

When the Wolff passed by him and waved Albus along, the fae gave one last cursory glance between Mamie and Armand, clearly confused by the exchange. After a moment he was too tempted by whatever the redheaded vampire had told him before they got into hearing range, so he turned and started following Mateo up the grand staircase that Loch Versailles opened to.

Percy knew where they were going before Mat even opened the door and flinched. He’d followed Albus as the memory mandated and couldn’t quite believe, even as he watched it happen, that his fae mate had been in his bedroom in 1953. It wasn’t like he had even slept there this century, but despite any number of remodels that had been completed between now and then, it was still his room. The old man always left the one portrait that had been completed of his parents on the wall and the first picture that he’d taken with his auror department in the 1890s stuck in the top corner of his dresser mirror.

Albus didn’t notice either of those markers though, as he entered wearily behind Mateo and watched the wolf flop on the bed half hazardously, like he knew this was a trap and was doing his damndest to figure out how. Of course, the predator on the prowl just crossed his legs at the ankle and reclined back on an elbow against the pillows, watching the then Defense professor in return. Percy thought for the longest time that they were just going to stare at one another all night.

Finally the wolf ordered, “Shut the door.”

Albus looked a little apprehensive, but did as he was told.

Mateo just scoffed, “Do you even know where you are?”

Confusion marred sky blue eyes and Albus looked around the room, then out the window at Mamie’s gardens, and back to the darker man, “I…”

“The correct answer is no,” Mat informed him flippantly, “You haven’t a fucking clue.”

When Albus had been younger, he’d gone into the scene for fun. Percy knew from keeping an eye on him as he got older that he’d started often being in a bad place when he went to parties like this. Knowing that Mateo was in a similar place after they split from Korea arguing, the Hard Charger couldn’t help the warring protective flares that lit in his chest. He wanted nothing more than to protect them from themselves and each other in that moment, even knowing that this was a four decades old memory.

Lord Dumbledore’s scarlet brows pulled together and he gave a small huff of frustration as he still struggled to understand, “Who are you?”

“Me?” The Thunderbird huffed and ran a hand through his dark hair that hadn’t changed styles since they first ran to New York in 1825, before green eyes looked out the window to the garden and he eventually offered quietly, “I’m the man who would have given anything to be in your shoes. To have a cushy place between Percival Graves and Gellert Grindelwald without it causing a fanger war.”

Percy watched Albus freeze and his eyes blow wide, caution taking over his stance.

“I’m the man who has fought a century and a half of wars beside a man you refused to even acknowledge,” Mat growled, “Despite the fact that he kept shipping his only son off to your sorry ass for protection his whole life.”

Green eyes shot back to blue and Percy winced.

“I’m the man who just took two pounds and five point six ounces of silver shrapnel out of his lover of a hundred of fifty three years’ chest and raced against a priest preparing to give him his last rites to do so,'' The wolf shoved up from the bed and tears pooled in Albus’ big eyes as he realized that Mat wasn’t some crazy stalker obsessed with Gellert or Percy. And they were nose to nose when the vampire continued, his fangs elongating and his voice all growl by then, “I’m the man who finally got to meet his godson on some godforsaken spit of coast in Korea, still caked in his father’s blood from head to toe, after he almost got shot down three times trying to bring in more wounded to my hospital! That’s who I am, you absolute son of a bitch!”

Albus turned green and Percy really thought he was going to be sick.

If Mat noticed, and as a healer it was very doubtful that even drunk he wouldn’t have, then he certainly didn’t let on. He gestured broadly to the party downstairs and stalked off to pace the room, letting loose a growl from deep within his belly, “How dare you show up here and not know you’re in his parents’ home! How dare you stand in his bedroom and not know! How fucking dare you!”

The professor was shaking like a leaf, but when Mat glared at him blue eyes held the gaze steadily.

“And you can stuff yourself with as many doms, and masters, and sanguinario colmillnos as you want!” He finally finished yelling, slipping into the spanish slang for bloodthirsty fangers that Percy saw confused Albus, though the wolf didn’t take time to explain, instead insisting vehemently and harshly as the rage fled it, “But you will never be satisfied. They will _never_ be him!”

Albus finally looked away and his right hand hurried over to wring his left wrist in a habit that Percy first saw in their mating dream in ‘98 and when he spoke everything the vampire loved about his voice had fled for the hills. All that was left behind was the most ragged of whispers, “I know.”

Emerald eyes studied him for the longest time and finally the Thunderbird snorted so hard that it had to hurt. He marched over to the window seat and kicked the side of it, making the secret hollow that Percy had created beneath it in his boyhood open. He couldn’t believe that moonshine was still there, even as Mat unscrewed the lid and studied Albus while drinking about half of it in one go. Even for a vampire that had to burn and his voice was whiskey rough when he finally spoke again, “At least answer me one question.”

“W… What?”

Rather than answering right away, Percy watched as his best friend dropped down into the window seat and studied the garden below, the assortment of flowers and rainbow fireflies highlighting that guests were partying around the back of the house as much as they had on the lawn. Mateo took another sip before asking his question, “What’s your plan?”

Confused again, Albus just wrung his wrist harder, “I don’t un…”

“When he’s dead and gone from this world after one war or another,” Mateo clarified, otherwise unmoving, and the green color returned to the Chief Warlock’s face again, “And you’ve lost every chance there would ever be to have him… When Flea is the last thing of him alive in this world, because Gellert just couldn’t stomach having Henry Jr. without you there…”

Percy flinched. He’d always been ready to go before his son. As much as he and Flea argued over the boy growing up and settling down, he’d still give anything to have taken his son’s place. And Jimmy’s. And he’d be damned if he let anything happen to Harry.

He couldn’t bury another son.

Albus flinched too.

The Hard Charger couldn’t say that he knew which part got to the fae though.

“...What’s your plan then?” The wolf finished, “Banking on ignorance being bliss?”

The scarlet man studied the darker man for a moment, but it didn’t take him longer than that, before he sighed and confessed, “No. Nothing makes bearing their absence any easier.”

“Qué susto… The one thing you got right,” Mat muttered after glancing at the fae’s reflection in the mirror. He huffed just a moment later and growled, “Get out.”

Albus didn’t need to be told twice. He turned and reached for the door knob when Percy caught sight of the ring he was wearing on his ring finger next to the Dumbledore lordship ring. But, the Hard Charger had the blasted thing August first of… ‘53.

Shit.

The memory started to fade away and he took a deep breath. Percy had always wondered why Albus put himself into such a bad position. After Korea he’d spent his first week at home holed up in his apartment and only left when he got that panicked call from Abby that something was wrong. His mate had been in the community long enough to know what he was doing and managed to end up in that hellhole; the Director always wanted to know what had knocked the lion so low.

Now, he knew.

“Perce, I....”

“It’s alright, Llorona. It’s done,” He purred and pulled the other vampire under the warm spray with him, “I just hate that was your first meeting. That you were mad at me and still…”

Mateo kissed him, “I’ll defend you until the day I’m dust. I don’t care how much we fight.”

Percy’s hands slipped down to grab him underneath the cusp of the wolf’s perfect ass and lifted him up, twisting them until he was holding the major up against the shower wall, caramel legs wrapped around his waist invitingly. They were tonguing hot and heavy, the Hard Charger’s mates none the wiser as they recaptured their summer together starting up round four when he let the bonds center again, but then he felt his twin flame pull away slightly.

“Perce…”

“Hmm?” He already had one hand locked in Mat’s hair and ran fingers through the wet locks gently, “What’s wrong?”

“Just… Go slow. I haven’t done this since Korea.”

He genuinely sprung up in surprise, “With anybody?!”

Seeing the wolf laugh and roll his eyes made him smile too, “When you can’t have the two people on the face of the earth you want, play sort of loses all its fun.”

To say that they made love that first time was probably the most grievous of understatements. Percy understood though. Mateo spent the first couple of decades after the old man’s temper tantrum thinking that he’d be over it in a few years and just killed time fooling around with others. They’d gotten their fix of one another during one war, or another, and they’d coped. When Percy had absolutely refused to make peace with the old man after he escaped Gellert, then again after Korea, it had forced his grandfather’s anger to a new place.

It was after they’d both cum and cleaned off, after the impressive waterheater of Loch Versailles had managed to run cold as an igloo, that they stumbled out of the bathroom with nothing but towels around their waists and Mat was drying his hair with another when he finally asked, “Is that all he is now? The old man?”

Percy threw himself on the bed and grabbed a cigar from the box on the nightstand, “Why not?”

“Because he’s your fucking father?!” The wolf reminded, throwing his hair towel at the stubborn bastard, “Raised you from infancy? Does this ring any bells?”

“Yep. So does him cutting me off for letting Gellert draw on my arm,” He muttered as he lit the cigar, “And not even giving me the chance to tell him that we’d already agreed to marry at Time of the Blood in ‘05.”

“Alright, Cabrón, he overreacted,” Mateo shrugged, “He’s french!”

“I’ll french his bitch ass.”

He smiled around the cigar when the Thunderbird just threw his hands in the air and went to pacing, but he did hate the conclusion his lover jumped to, “And I thought you’d actually make peace! Percy, I can’t keep doing this. Being stuck here, not seeing you, not having seen Gellert since the day after you got married! I…”

“Stop! Stop!” He insisted, blowing out a smoke ring and pulling the peckerwood he’d been in love with from boyhood down to sit in the bed next to him, “Now, did I say I’d end this madness?”

“Not in so many words,” Mat hissed.

“Did I imply it?”

“Yes.”

“Have I ever let you down with one of my crazy schemes?”

“No,” He allowed with a grin, “Perce…”

“Give me a little time,” He put the cigar in the ashtray and sat up to kiss the younger vampire, “I promise I’ll make peace with Père. Okay? I’m just…”

He trailed off unsure how to even end the sentence.

“Being petty as shit?”

“Whatever,” He play growled before grabbing his lover by the hips and tumbling with him to the middle of the bed.

It wasn’t even a shock when the wolf pulled away this time.

“I can’t,” He shot up from the bed and started pacing again, both hands running through his long damp hair, “I can’t! Percy, that’s his bed! With Mamie! The one place he’s not a complete asshole all the time!”

“Hey, now,” Purring, he stood up and pulled the healer into his arms, “It was just an idea. We don’t have to do anything.”

“¿De verdad?"

"Of course. It's no fun if you're not an enthusiastic participant, Llorona," Percy promised, kissing the tip of his nose, "You know I love you to pieces."

"Hmm…" Mateo chuckled and let himself be pulled in further and ran a hand along the top of the towel about the other man's waist, "Those are the exact words you said to me when we dropped a vat of oil in Old Man Barley's moonshine."

"True," He purred again, tucking a strand of dark hair behind the musician's ear, "I meant every word then too."

"I know," The wolf stole a kiss before snatching the Hard Charger's towel and shoving him back into the bed before crawling on top of him, "That's why they always work."

Percy had to admit that particular round for them was more rough and about reestablishing their claim on one another. Gellert wasn't much one for taking the lead where Mat was and the sensation of the wolf inside him felt like coming home. They shared blood too which led to a sort of bond like the Director's mating bonds.

Though they cuddled for a while and bantered about Percy's inability to stop purring, there wasn't much point to hanging around the parents' room once it was properly debauched. Once his twin flame was on board they did leave the wet towels on the floor and his half finished cigar on the nightstand. When they went to debase the kitchen properly the pair also left dirty wine glasses and beer bottles in the sink to get the rockstar's goat.

By the time their mischief had been laid in wait, Albus and Gellert had both succumbed to sleep in Hogwarts, and they took a walk around the lake for a round there as a testament to old times. Harry was a little young to know about vampire refractory periods being a mere minute after twenty-five, but damn if Percy didn't enjoy being back in step with the Thunderbird for a night.

"So…"

Percy was sitting on the porch swing again, which they didn't end up screwing around on simply because, where the beds and counters of Loch Versailles were reinforced, the swing was not equipped to handle vampire strength, only this time he only had one leg on the railing. Mateo was stretched across him with his head pillowed on the Hard Charger's thigh as he strummed on his guitar, "What?"

The green-eyed vampire rolled his eyes, "You ever gonna let me see what went on here today? Maybe even a little Henry Jr?"

The Thunderbird had already been caught up on Percy's morning at Hogwarts and the horcruxes. After wanting to meet Flea for so long and never getting to meet Jimmy in the flesh, the Peverell lord knew that it was wrong to keep it from him, even for a giggle because Mat had no idea. Jimmy has lost the war of the names against Lily and Severus, once Percy's nephew learned that they were family, but no one could blame the Stag Charger for trying.

He did put his foot down in one vein, "I allowed the prophesied Henry Jr. crap go on for eight decades, because Albus and Gellert planned their whole life out in a year and it was cute. But, Mary and Morgana, it's the one concession I got from Lily in that child's life. His name is Harry, use it!"

"Whatever! Harry! Harry! Harry!" He held his guitar as menacingly as he could at his angle, "Let me see him!"

Though he chuckled, Percy let his eyes bleed red and showed the wolf Harry's little adventure. By the time he came out of it Mat couldn't breathe and he would have fallen off the swing if his Wampus hadn't held him in place, "Certainly had you and Issy pegged."

"Shut your yap."

"Can I tell Nanny about the cuckoo comment?"

"I'm sure hell not doing it!"

Mat hummed and looked off to where the sky was begging to lighten, "Do you remember what Père used to say about your first son?"

"If there's any justice in the world," He mocked, letting his head fall to the back of the swing, "He'll look just like Percy and be painted like Mat."

"Two boys off ain't bad."

Eventually they had to move inside. Their clothes from the day before were an utter disaster from the trip up to the lake and both needed another shower. They dropped by Wolff Woods, to make sure the manager knew that Mateo was leaving on extended business and how to contact him, then Amarok went into an emergency suitcase that he still kept packed from their army days, and off to see the wizard they went.

Nurmengard was a quick enough trip. Direwolf in the garden and Mat's stuff put away, they took a quick shower limited to blowjobs only because there was a time crunch. Then it was dressing as quickly as they were able.

Percy was back in his typical suit and trench coat, but he did stick one unusual accessory in his breast pocket. A gold ring in the shape of a lion, with a large ruby in the roaring, two smaller gems of the same for eyes, and a band decorated with even more. It was something that needed to go home.

Mateo Wolff absolutely refused to wear a suit, so he was back in army green tactical with a white shirt, and a green shirt thrown over it that he also refused to button, "We wouldn't want you to feel the need to tear it off, Corazon."

Percy had intentionally made sure that they'd be back to his office before the rest of the Auror Department, because he needed to get the American clearance to go with them on the mission. It was time consuming paperwork, but not overly taxing. At first he didn't even notice the Thunderbird was there, because he was busy setting up the office that there hadn't been time to unpack. Twenty minutes after that, he was relieved when Theseus got there with Newt trailing behind him.

"Hey, Percy, is anyone else he…" Theseus hollered at realizing who else was in the office, "Major!!"

"These! Newt!"

All three of them fawned over each other and the Director of Defense was more than happy to send the triad next door to the Lord Commander of Special Operations' office. He got the paperwork done quickly then and started reviewing their strategy for the mission ahead. Percy was on the last page when someone knocked on his office door.

Glancing up and finding Albus standing there and wringing his wrist again, while sky blue eyes glanced up at the vampire from the floor cautiously, "Hi, Percy. Can we talk?"

He put the lid on his pen, tossed it aside, and sat back in his desk chair, pointer finger automatically going to his upper lip. After just a second of studying the fae though, the vampire chuckled, "Of course we can. Come on in."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just all the sorry!
> 
> I am probably still going to post rescued baby Harry in the next day or so, because I cannot even describe how adorable he is, and I wrote it!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We made it to 5 o'clock Friday and this felt to a proper congratulations!

His alarm went off the next morning and Albus hurried to shut it off as quickly as he could. Gellert was still plastered against his chest, both of them sticky and stuck together, after going so many rounds the night before that they’d finally collapsed without cleaning up first. It had been like they were teenagers all over again.

When he tried to get up the siren buried his nose deeper in the crook of his neck, readjusting so that he could trap the Headmaster underneath his weight, “Don’t go.”

Chuckling, he reminded, “I have to go to the Ministry and talk to Percy. Wouldn’t hurt for me to make an appearance at breakfast first.”

The Liberator huffed, but let him get up. Albus was under the distinct impression that he’d been persuaded by the potentiality of his mates communicating, rather than any need for the students and staff to put their eyes on him. The pouty brat settled into sleep for a few more hours, although he did say that he’d be going back to Nurmengard to check on Cissy and Sirius, once he was properly awake.

Showering was a relief. It felt like there was cum in every orifice of his body for the first time since ‘53 and, after the thought crossed his mind, the Chief Warlock couldn’t help but wonder how much Wolff had told his vampire mate. And the knot that formed in his stomach at the thought didn’t release as he got ready, or as he sat through breakfast trying to figure out what he was going to say to the Director of Defense.

He wound up the first one in the Great Hall and watched as slowly Hogwarts came to life little by little, but it was with a far away gaze as his mind ran through every worst case scenario that could spring up from him showing up in Percy’s office. Albus was still chewing on his thumbnail when Minerva arrived and told him to actually eat something. It startled him, because he hadn’t realized she’d taken her usual seat next to him.

Shaking his head to try and rid himself of the thoughts temporarily, the Headmaster checked in on her night shift, making a grab for the eggs and a croissant.

“Perfectly fine,” She snickered as she loaded her plate, “Your grandson snuck out to the Hog’s Head and came back wielding a note from Aberforth smug as could be.”

“What did the brat have to say?” Albus fought to keep the grin off of his face when she slid the note addressed to him across the table and it was nothing but a drawing of a hand with its middle finger erect, despite his exasperation, “I’ll have to tell Percy that he created a little monster.”

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” She noted of the Marauders.

He took note when Harry bounced into breakfast with Ron and Hermione, right before his son arrived at the staff table just a moment later. He wanted details of that exchange, but they weren't forthcoming. His son seemed fond of whatever happened in his labs though, prior to Draco leading in Newt to excavate that basilisk the day before.

The Potions Master confessed to showing Harry and Draco around the Chamber of Secrets the day before and he was quite surprised at how well he’d gotten on with his son after just acknowledging the boy. It was apparent to the Head of Slytherin now just how much of their animosity was Harry punishing him for ignoring the Little Prince. The Headmaster was sure that if Percy’s mission proved successful, then Severus would be racing to claim his only son as quickly as he could.

When the daily post arrived Albus slid the note into his breast pocket and looked over the Daily Prophet’s headlines. There was rampant speculation about the Wizengamot meeting and a leaked mission to Albania; instantly the Chief Warlock speculated that his vampire mate had released the red herring and it was true from a certain perspective. No one could deny that the man knew what he was doing as an auror, keeping the vultures off their backs long enough to successfully finish Tom off.

At a quarter till nine, Albus stood up and made for his office, wanting to get all the time to try and explain the last century that he could. Of course, he probably should have noticed the trio of lions rush out after him, but with all the thoughts swirling around his head, the fire fae just didn’t until Harry popped up at his elbow. And the moving staircase was already taking off, so there was no escape.

“You’re going to Albania, aren’t you?”

He rolled his eyes and looked down at his grandson, “I’m just going to talk to Grandpa Percy.”

“And then to Albania?” Hermione demanded from his other side with Ron.

Albus just chuckled, “I can’t say that I’ve planned that far ahead.”

Emerald eyes rolled in his direction and Harry seemed to determine that there was no use in continuing his inquisition there. So, as the Headmaster stepped onto the fourth floor landing, he wasn’t surprised when the castle moved to do its heir’s bidding, “Newt was supposed to meet up with Hagrid. Let’s go see what they know.” The staircase was already heading back down when Harry turned to wave goodbye, “Good luck, Gingy!”

He smiled and waved to the second years before quickly moving into his office and flooing to the Ministry. Most were still just arriving and drinking their normal brews to see them through to lunch, so there was little need for him to stop and chat anyone up, even as his nerves jumped around to the point that might have been preferable. Albus realized he probably should have taken a calming draught before even attempting this, but it was too late now.

When he passed by Theseus’ office on the way to the newly titled Director’s, he saw that the Gryffindor was in the process of sending his little brother off to Hogwarts at the side of Mateo Wolff, and he had to take a deep breath. He’d been fighting off a panic attack by sheer force of will since the man came around the corner of Percy’s parents’ home. That night had been its own horror story and reliving it wasn’t something he’d been prepared to do so suddenly.

He’d never agreed more with another person about his own shortcomings in his life. Drunk as the vampire may have been, he’d also been right. And Albus didn’t remember fleeing Louisiana that night, or getting back to Scotland, but he did remember going to his brother’s bar and drinking so much more than he should have.

When those men had approached him and wanted a night of his time, even Abby, who hadn’t been speaking to him in general, tried to stop him from going. He’d just been so upset and wanted to feel anything else. Albus had to admit that he’d known even as he set his boundaries that they only intended to violate them. Most of what happened in between then and him waking up after passing out in that abandoned warehouse, he wouldn’t have wished on his worst enemy.

In sobriety he’d alerted the authorities. And they’d managed to aid other victims of the bastards, most of them being captives who had gotten mixed up in the sex trafficking ring by tragedy after tragedy. Despite getting mind healing and keeping an eye on the case though, none of the men had ever been found.

Shaking his head to clear it, Albus did his best to take a deep breath and push away the memories of that hellacious night, knowing it was the last thing he needed on his mind at the moment. When he flexed his left hand and it only had the gold phoenix ring on his middle finger, decorated with rubies and garnet, the fire fae could admit that his ring finger still felt naked, even forty-three years later. The knowledge that he’d failed his ancestry by losing such an important part of their history to those sick fucks was just added to the pile of all his other catastrophes.

Albus took a deep breath before knocking on the door and adjusted his shirt cuff for lack of anything better to do, before being able to drag his eyes up from the floor, “Hi, Percy. Can we talk?”

The vampire capped his pen and threw it away, dark eyes studying the Headmaster, who had never better understood the idea of being weighed and measured in his life. It felt like a lifetime before his mate chuckled, “Of course we can. Come on in.”

He shut the door, because there was no way he would get through this with an audience, and by the time Albus turned around to face the music Percy was perched on the other side of his desk. His legs were crossed at the ankles and his arms across his chest. The infamous trench coat was on the rack by the door and his suit jacket had been abandoned to the back of his desk chair, but no one would ever say that Gellert’s husband wasn’t built like a tank. His black vest and white button up were doing nothing to hide the fact that his biceps were bigger than Harry’s head.

Bug eyed and frozen in place at the sight, apparently Albus’ startled appearance brought out the vampire’s sense of nostalgia, because he huffed and spoke first, “Relax, Copper Top. I don’t play where I haven’t been invited.”

He couldn't stop the absolutely delighted grin that broke over his face, showing off his dimples, at hearing the first words that Percy ever said to him in their mating dream. It felt like the larger man had said them the first time but a moment before, "My God, this is a disaster."

Percy shrugged off the exclamation noncommittally, "It's a hop, skip, and jump from being cleaned up. We've dealt with worse."

And wasn't that true? They'd been running then western hemisphere, though not on speaking terms, for several decades at this point. If he hadn't convinced himself that he was in this alone after losing Lily, then...

Albus took a deep breath for courage and moved to bite the bullet, "There was magic in place to stop me from speaking to you from 1915 to 1979. I couldn't, no matter how much I wanted to."

The vampire's growl was enough to make the room quake, the sound equal parts arousing and terrifying, "Who?!"

"Don't!" The fire fae begged, stepping closer and his hands automatically moving to touch the irate vampire, before he thought better of it and they dropped to clinch into fists at his sides, "He didn't know! I didn't even realize until…"

Unable to stop a few tears from escaping, the sight of them softened his mate, who reached out to pull Albus in and sat him down on Percy's knee, before he wiped the stream away, "Who, sweetheart?"

"Flea."

"My son, Flea?!"

"It wasn't intentional, Percy," Albus whispered vehemently, "It was my fault. Not his. And I didn't even realize until…"

He just had to close his eyes and try to bare it, but that didn't stop more tears from escaping.

"What in the world happened?" Percy demanded as his big hand came up to wipe the evidence of the Chief Warlock's upset away again.

"He got to school and I was greeting the kids that night. I knew as soon as I saw his name on the registry and I couldn't wait to meet him," He ran a hand over Percy's lordship ring for the Potter line, where it was clamped on his knee, "He looked just like you from stem to stern and he was muttering 'Gryffindor' under his breath. I struck up a conversation as we were waiting to go into the sorting, but when one of the kids asked my name everything changed; he changed."

That dark head tilted curiously.

"He avoided me all semester. And it took me until he was about to leave for Yule to pin him down out by the lake, despite him being in my house," Albus shook his head but had to confess, "He abided not being able to tell anyone who his parents were fairly well, but all the kids had a favorite ace in those days. You'd just made your debut a few months before and everyone knew the Golden Turul was his idol."

Percy scoffed, "I haven't flown since that war ended. Gellert made me swear I'd retire… I still have the golden monstrosity though."

Albus laughed, "Well… Anyway, he knew that Gellert and I dated before you got married, but I guess he didn't know about us being mates…"

"We thought he'd be safer, if he didn't."

That made sense.

It had also probably contributed to the problem, "He was so afraid I was going to ruin your marriage like some trollop. So, I told him I'd only talk to you, so long as Gellert was there too. And as he bounced away I asked if it was a deal, but I didn't mean it like…"

The Director offered a horrified laugh, "Why didn't you say anything when…?"

Albus shoved away from him and moved to pace the office, both hands dragging through his scarlet hair, "I couldn't! It was Flea! He was like mine too." 

He felt guilty even as he says it, but it was true. He'd always thought of Flea as his own child in a way. It had only been made worse when the young wizard, who thought himself allergic to responsibility, was always running to Albus to vent when the Hard Charger was on his case, "And he never even knew. Maybe after a couple of years I would have, but by then…"

He ran into a wall of muscle and let the taller man pull him into a crushing hug, "By then we'd lost Jimmy, and Little Copper, and even Harry was in hiding."

The fire fae sobbed into his neck and clutched at Percy's vest, "I'm so sorry. I should have known. I…"

"Shh. It's okay, sweetheart," His voice was like a purr and soothing, "Shh. Take a deep breath for me, Copper Top."

Albus tried, but it took a few minutes for him to calm down. Once the dam broke it was like the last couple of days caught up to him and his mind was overwhelmed; it wouldn't shut off even for a moment. The whole room was spinning.

Then Percy's hand that wasn't around his waist crept up to gently layover the bruising that was still hidden underneath a thin glamour. He felt when the vampire hit him with a dose of calm as well, using empathic magics that most of his race couldn't fathom, and Albus let the older wizard back him up to sit on the desk, then stayed still while Percy cleaned him up gently. All he could manage by then was staring up at his mate, surely looking like a startled deer.

"There's a good boy," Percy purred, placing a delicate kiss in his lips before checking, "Better?"

Albus barely found it within himself to nod, still mesmerized.

The vampire took a step back, both hands wandering into his pockets, and the Headmaster had never wanted to protest so vehemently in his life, "It's okay, Copper Top. You didn't mean to." He snorted, "Can't wait to meet Flea in the White Light and clean his clock though."

"He never even knew, Percy."

"Ignorance is no excuse, much less bliss."

Albus flinched and he saw when his mate took note of it.

After a moment the vampire wandered over, summoning something that the Dumbledore lord didn't actually spot until it was placed on his ring finger gently, and seeing the piece once worn by Godric Gryffindor again made him gasp. He started up at Percy and couldn't help but stutter, "How… I… When…"

The Director of Defense cut him off gently, one hand brushing over the fire fae's jaw whiskers, "Abby called me that night. Warned me that something was wrong. I'm so sorry that I couldn't track you in time to stop them."

Horror and shame were there, but Albus also couldn't stop a sense of relief. He'd had someone looking for him. Most of the victims who'd gotten mixed up with those sick fucks hadn't been so lucky.

"After…" Percy trailed off, because there was no use in renaming everything they'd done in that warehouse, and his willingness to leave it at the general statement was a relief, "They went to this bar and had the ring. That's how I got it back. By the time I saw the warehouse in their minds and got there, the authorities were already crawling all over the place."

Running his thumb over the roaring lion, Albus offered, "Thank you."

"I would have sent it back to you sooner," Percy clarified, voice teetering between a comforting purr and pissed off timbre, "But I was afraid you'd think it was from one of them and…"

"I would have."

A finger guided his chin upward until Albus abandoned staring at the ring to lock sights with dark eyes, "You haven't had anything to fear from them since that night, I assure you."

He popped a quick kiss on his fae's lips.

Confused by the comment though, Albus stared at him for a few long moments, his mate taking the scrutiny with little more than a raised eyebrow, but when it did strike him the realization was sudden. Abby's joke about exsanguination, Gellert's commentary on Percy's favorite pastime, his vampire mate having Gryffindor's ring, "Have you eaten everyone I ever slept with?"

"No," Percy teased playfully, "That would be gilding the lily."

He knew he had to be blushing the color of his hair.

And the Hard Charger just chuckled before kissing his mate again, "I only ate the ones who couldn't abide by the rules."

And Albus had to admit that his rules were few and far between. He didn't like watersports and he didn't let anyone draw blood in any capacity. Only a few hadn't been able to abide by them, but those who broke the latter had especially bothered him, mostly because they were vampires and violated something he'd always thought to reserve for the wizard towering above him.

He could only assume Percy caught the thought when he kissed him again. After a few minutes they pulled apart and he was hard as hell when the vampire kept stroking a gentle thumb over the hollow of his throat. Thinking it would be as exciting for his mate as it was for him, the fire fae dropped his glamour, but all it did was make the older man flinch.

"Percy…"

"I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have ever done that and I didn't even mean…"

He rolled his eyes, "You didn't even have my wand arm restrained, fanger. You have to know I could have gotten you off."

"You shouldn't have had to. I'm sorry."

"If I accept," He queried, running a finger across broad shoulders, "Do you think you could make it up to me before going to 'Albania'?"

Dark eyes appraised him for a moment before Percy chuckled and checked his watch, "Fifteen minutes? I might have a few ideas."

Albus couldn't say that he cared much for the specifics as he was seized by the arse and better positioned on the desk. They were locked at the mouth hot and heavy when he felt the vampire's magic do something, but he was too distracted to really care what that something was. His mate still tasted like dark chocolate, and poppies, and ash. And it was addicting.

It was a relief when his pants were unbuckled, because there had been a genuine worry about them bursting from how hard he was, the zipper track probably imprinted down his cock. He'd have gladly kicked his pants off to the floor, but Percy only pulled them down to his knees before his hand disappeared into the Chief Warlock's boxers. After playing with him for a few minutes Albus' felt a very light lubrication spell take root within his arse and his natural reaction was to spread his legs as much as he could with his pants still on.

Expecting to feel the vampire's cool fingers when the hand caressing his balls descended further, blue eyes blew wide when he felt something larger push inside of him. Even better was when it started to vibrate and he could feel it was linked to Percy's magic. He'd never been so tempted to grind his arse into the desk in his life.

Britain's Director of Defense just chuckled and stole one more kiss, "Think you can manage to keep your hands off yourself until I get back?"

"Mhmm," Albus nodded as a sign of his cooperation, not trusting his voice to manage anything more coherent.

"That's my good boy."

They were interrupted by a knock on the door, "Perce, Theseus needs your approval on to equipment."

Only after buckling him back into his pants did the vampire unlock his office, "You can come in, Mat."

The door opened and Percy moved out quickly to go next door to check on Theseus. Albus knew that his face had to be the same color as his hair, remembering that Wolff would have been able to see everything that happened in the office after sharing blood with Percy the night before, and how could he forget with the way the vampire lingered in the doorway grinning. They stared at each other for a few long moments, before the American finally came into the office.

The Headmaster wasn't quite sure what he was expecting, but it wasn't for the man to come and sit next to him on the edge of Percy's desk like they were just friends chatting until the team left. It wasn't until green eyes flicked down to his throat that Albus finally remembered the marks were on display. Before he could even cover them back up though, Wolff ran a hand by the feathers in his hair and seemed to pull a potion from within them.

He chuckled when he saw that the fire fae was fascinated, "Native Americans channel magic differently. These are my conduits, but they can also work similarly to Nordic users' totems."

Nodding to show that he followed along, Albus finally looked down at the potion and realized that it was a bruise balm. Arching a brow, he speculated that the vampire had to know he'd rather keep it if he had this long. The healer had to know that it wasn't truly hurting him.

Mateo shrugged, "He'll put them back, if you want. But the way it happened bothers him."

Albus rolled his eyes, but downed the potion quickly, before someone passed by the door and had cause to ask questions. He noted of the nickname and its meaning that he'd picked up on through his bond with Percy during the night before, "And he calls you a crybaby."

The wolf laughed at the reference, "I've been saying it for years."

They sat there and studied one another for a few minutes. Albus could admit the man was gorgeous. And most would swear Harry was his son, rather than the second year being related to his grandparents who were still alive.

"I'm sorry," Mat offered after taking a deep breath, "For that night. I was drunk and pissed off, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

Albus sighed, "The truth hurts. You were right though."

"No, I wasn't. You couldn't talk to him…"

"It's okay," He promised gently, "Really. We got here eventually."

"I guess so," The wolf huffed as he thought back on that night, "Given how close I came to being disowned for that incident, you'd think I did a lot more to you than yell."

Albus scrutinized him, "What do you mean?"

Shrugging, the vampire divulged, "His parents knew we were fighting after Korea and to this day think I slept with you to piss him off."

There was no doubt that he was horrified by the prospect of his mate's parents thinking that, "Did you tell them otherwise?!"

"Of course, I did," Mat chuckled and shrugged, "I think Mamie wanted to believe me for his own peace of mind, but he wasn't sure if it was just wishful thinking and my own drunken denial."

"What about his father?"

Mat hummed and ran a hand through his hair with a sigh, before confessing, "After almost baring his only son and heir for the slaughter in Korea, it was easier to be mad at me for wronging him, rather than face what he'd almost allowed to happen."

Albus flinched at the admittance, but didn't know what he could possibly add. He'd only accepted the invitation to that party hoping to lose Gryffindor's ring as his ancestors intended. The disaster it became was best left in the past.

They'd all been in a rotten, horrible, no good place until the Marauders' generation was born. Then Harry.

They got moving when Tonks came to the doorway and announced the team was about to leave. Albus saw them all off and was a bit disappointed when Percy finally had to shield against his mating bonds as the mission required. Technically he should have been doing it all morning, but he'd been playing at not officially being at work yet, despite being in the building.

The Chief Warlock retreated to his seldomly used office at the Ministry and tried to get the preliminary work done for the Wizengamot session later. It wasn't exactly the easiest thing to concentrate when, despite shielding his bonds, Percy kept changing the vibration patterns and strength of the pulses in his arse once the team had taken off. It didn't help when Gellert finally woke up in Hogwarts and rubbed one out in his shower while fantasizing about what their vampire was going to do to him when he got back.

Albus made a mental note to wear his arse out later.

It only took an hour for the team to return and by then he was tempted to hump the Chief Warlock seat for some friction. Self control wasn't a feature that he usually found lacking, but this was so much more tempting than his previous play. Percy being the culprit of his pleasure had Albus feeling like a teenager again.

The mission was successful and they had the last remaining piece of Tom's soul in an enchanted urn. The team was largely in good health, just dirty and tired from the hunt. Though they probably would have liked the opportunity to change clothes first, the masses would not be put off when they were so close to safety.

Presiding over the session in which Percy was publicly exorcising the Dark Lord before the government and the reporters the session was open to, while not appearing like he was about to cum at the briefest glance from the Director of Defense, was the most exciting form of agony. He'd engaged in a lot of play in his day, but nothing to this extent; playing with anyone from work had never been worth the risks before. It was exhilarating and almost enough to push him over the edge.

If Mateo Wolff could stop giggling that would certainly help!

Once it was done, however, and the floor was open to questions, Albus felt the vibrator kick onto its highest setting yet. His grip on the bench was turning his knuckles white and when he tried to send his mate a pleading look the vampire couldn't have looked more innocent or unaware of him, as he answered numerous questions about the mission for the press. Stupid fanger even explained that they hadn't been on foreign soil in Albania as was falsely reported, but rather just in northern Scotland's magical forest.

Several reporters turned to ask the Chief Warlock about the upcoming elections to fill their interim positions and he'd never know how he kept his voice even as he answered, but managed at the end of it all. Slamming his gavel to end the session was a relief. Having to stay and chat with those he'd been able to escape the day before was torturous, especially when Percy and Mateo made their escape back to the Director's office quickly, but neither spared him a glance as they got away.

Took him twenty minutes to clear the masses and he could tell when his mate got impatient, because the vibrator upped settings again to the point the fae almost came right there. Extracting himself from socializing was a relief and he hightailed it to Percy’s office. Getting to the vampire’s space as the clock struck noon and shutting the door behind him, Albus couldn’t stop himself from hissing as most of the masses made for lunch, “You are both right tossers!”

The Hard Charger’s lips quirked, but he didn’t stop what he was writing, “Are we? I hadn’t noticed.”

Leaning back against the door, Albus let his head rest against the polished wood, “Where is he?”

“Llorona? Went to Nurmengard to change,” Percy noted.

Upon closer inspection, the Director of Defense had changed clothes too, even though it was really just trading one suit for another. Who could complain when he looked like something straight out of a love god’s fantasies? The man was temptation incarnate.

“And I’m sure he’s doing his damndest to seduce Gellert,” The vampire continued, still not looking up from his report, “Those two can’t be in the same place without seducing one another.”

“If you’re trying to kill me,” Albus muttered, as the vast number of ways Mateo and Gel could be enjoying one another ran through his head, stealing his siren mate’s typical line, “There are more merciful ways to go about this.”

The Director laughed, “No, just finishing my report. If I don’t meet Harry on time, he might come snooping around here.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him,” The Headmaster allowed, “You know he’s still a second year, yes? I don’t even know how he got out last night.”

“I’ll ask him when he gets to the Hog’s Head,” Percy promised, signing the report and sending it over to the filing cabinet with a wave of his hand, “How’s Abby holding up? Sirius is coming in for reparation negotiations tomorrow.”

Seeing that the man was done with his paperwork, the fire fae abandoned his perch against the door and moved to sit on the desk next to him, “I haven’t talked to him today, but seems well enough. Sent this back with Harry last night.”

Flipping the folded note open, Percy busted out laughing and had to wipe the tears that escaped from his eyes away, “Sometimes it’s good to be the younger brother.”

“Fuck you,” Albus rolled his eyes, then gasped when his mate soared up and ran a flattened palm across his clothed prick with a purr.

“If you insist,” Percy kissed him again before the office locked down around them.

It was hard to believe that the vibrator in him had a higher setting, but it kicked up and Albus was left clutching at the Director’s shoulders like they were the only thing anchoring him to planet earth. After necking for a minute, Percy wound up sinking down on his knees as he undid the fire fae’s pants for the second time that day, and swallowed him without so much as a breath of warning. A vampire with a gag reflex was a joke, nor did they need to breathe, so it was no shock when he was coming in a matter of minutes.

And any minute attempts to pull away were met with a growl that only made him cum faster.

Percy chuckled as he stood up, wiping his lip, “You taste like cinnamon and sunshine all the way around, Copper Top.”

“Really? I suppose you’ll just have to let me verify that,” He muttered before yanking the vampire in for another kiss. They might be at work, but Albus would be damned to hell before he didn’t get to see the vampire in all his stacked glory, so he was unbuttoning the taller man’s dress shirt in a hurry.

No such restraint was embodied by his mate, because Percy ripped his white button up without hesitation and Albus couldn’t say that he much gave a damn. They were wizards after all; it could be fixed. Kicking his pants and boxers completely off, he watched for just a moment as the Director stepped back to shrug out of his shirt and pull off his undershirt over his head, “You cannot be real.”

The grin he got in response was all fang, “If you’d just sent Flea home to talk to us, we could have been playing since 1915.”

Shoes and socks kicked off they were naked except for Percy’s pants when Albus batted big blue eyes at him, “Want to punish me, Daddy?”

“Maybe later,” Was the growled response before his mouth was reclaimed and hands of steel wrapped around his thighs, dragging the smaller wizard to the very edge of the desk, before moving to toy with the vibrator for a few minutes, "Harry seemed fascinated by the fact that you have tattoos."

"Gel warned me," Panting it out was the best he could manage.

"You think he'll manage to hold off until he can join in the family tradition?"

"I think," Albus gasped and tightened his hands around the wartime brands on Percy's biceps in desperation, well aware that the conversation was meant to be a challenge of sorts, "That no matter what your best friend shows his arse and I bear the brunt."

He was already half hard again and faes weren’t even supposed to have the lightning fast refractory period that vampires enjoyed. Given that they were locked in Percy’s office anyway, when he felt his mate nudge at their mating bond, opening it was a natural inclination. Able to feel how excited both of them were only spurred their pair on to new heights.

After walking around with the device inside of him, Albus was as prepared as he was going to get and didn’t object when Percy pulled it out, while he was unbuckling the vampire’s belt. He hadn’t been able to really see his mate’s size the night before when he’d been with Mateo and he was proud to say that Gellert’s thoughts hadn’t really had the chance to wander at the time, but Albus would admit to being surprised by the hulk’s sheer girth. He was at least ten inches long and a couple wide.

He didn’t even give the Headmaster a chance to adjust to the idea of him before Percy slammed inside his arse like a battering ram. Despite his gasp, Albus had to admit that it instantly had him hard as a rock all over again, especially as he clutched at the vampire’s shoulders and one of Percy’s hands wandered to his throat. Given a moment he didn’t want to adjust, the Director seemed to take the hint when Albus started to fidget and grind against him, and started thrusting, slowly and controlled in every way.

One good thing about his experiences in the fetish community, particularly with vampire doms who weren't really invested in him beyond a night of pleasure, had one unexpected benefit. He knew immediately when his mate was holding out on him. And it was irritating, "Percy, harder."

"Where?"

"Everywhere."

"Albus…" Dark eyes met his blue, but they were reserved. Nervous to take what they really wanted.

And he hissed, "Do you really think I'm some delicate flower?"

Percy hummed, still thrusting, but the rate slowed so that they could hold this conversation that clearly needed to happen. That should have happened back at the turn of the century. A discussion the Director of Defense clearly thought he should have facilitated well before taking their clothes off, certainly before he was balls deep in the fire fae.

Probably before he'd summoned that vibrator from Nurmengard that morning.

Albus snorted and pulled him into a kiss, "I'm all for proper negotiation, but all I'm asking for right now is a rough fucking and a few bruises. Then you can feed on me, if you want to."

"I shouldn't."

"Which part?"

"Feeding on you."

He'd admit that hurt his feelings a little, "You'll feed on Gellert and Wolff, but not me?"

"It's not a competition, Copper Top," He purred comfortingly and nuzzled his head against the Gryffindor's, "It's… I can feed on G and Mat, because they aren't sleeping with anybody else."

"I…"

"There's nothing wrong with it!" Percy hurried and insisted, "You can sleep with whoever you want. It's just… We get possessive of those with whom we share blood. I'd end up…"

He trailed off for a moment and Albus studied him until he finally clarified, "If I fed on you and then someone touched you, that's when I'd eat everyone you ever slept with. Before I even realized what I was doing, I'd kill them all."

Albus didn't know what to say for a long moment and then suddenly it just came bursting out, "I wanted you so much. I didn't… Any experimenting I did in youth, I just assumed would stop when I got to New York, to you. Since I made that deal with Flea… He was right. I could've searched the whole universe, but no one else was ever going to be you."

Percy leaned down to kiss him again, slowly thrusting into the fire fae until he was totally sheathed within his mate, "Are you sure you want me feeding on you?"

"God, yes."

"What are your safe words."

"Always figured the basics were best. Hard to misconstrue red, yellow, green."

"Fair enough."

That time when large hands locked around the cusp of his arse it was with the intent to leave bruises and Albus felt tiny razor-like cuts appear across his lips from Percy's reclaiming of his mouth fangs first. When the vampire pulled out of him and started thrusting, he set a rigorous pace. And he didn't even have to try to hit the Chief Warlock's prostate; doing it without effort and making the ginger see stars.

Mat was proven right though. After that briefest of interludes, Percy did seem more than willing to put bruises around his neck right back where they'd been, and the fact that it only took one of his hands was even hotter. Most used choking as a way to establish control, but not Percy. He was just showcasing it.

Albus got the distinct impression that if he wasn't so into the sensation, then his vampire mate wouldn't have bothered. He didn't engage in the play for a long time either, rather doing it a couple of times to remark the Headmaster's neck with a handprint that would eventually return to black and blue, then abandoning fingers for fangs as the rhythm of his thrusts reached a frenzied peak. The fire fae was so close to his climax when Percy started kissing down his neck and across the red imprint of his hand that hadn’t begun to otherwise color yet, but nothing compared to when sharp fangs descended below his skin.

He wound up cumming unable to see anything but a bright flash of white, the vampire not even having to touch his prick once as he lost himself to fucking Albus’ arse and gulping down his blood. Having read about the euphoria of a vampire bite was one thing, but experiencing it was an entirely different beast. Where the bites of those who broke his rules were painful beyond compare, having his mate feed on him was true bliss.

Percy erupting within him felt so good and it bloody well should have after being overdue by nearly a century. His legs were wrapped around his mate’s waist and his fingers were still digging into the Director’s shoulder blades as Albus gave his damndest to keeping him in place. When the American wizard finally moved to straighten up and pull away, the fire fae gave a whine of protest in a last ditch effort to stop him.

“It’s almost one, sweetheart,” The Potter lord purred, “You need to get back for the rest of lunch and then I’ve got to meet Harry.”

He protested by burying his nose in the crook of his mate’s neck.

And despite the fact that Percy chuckled, when the vampire summoned something else from Nurmengard, Albus recognized that’s what his mate was doing the second time. That didn’t mean that he didn’t protest with whimpers and gratuitous pawing when the Peverell lord went to pull his softened cock from his arse. He let himself be placated when the appendage was quickly replaced as the vampire cooed at him.

It was far from a huge plug. Mostly he knew that it was just fulfilling the gesture of keeping the taller man’s cum inside of him until they could continue playing later. That didn’t mean it didn’t feel like heaven though.

“Okay?” Percy clarified, kissing him on the tip of his nose fondly.

“Mmhmm,” Albus agreed, accepting another sweet kiss on his lips, before they both moved to get dressed.

A few cleaning spells to have them fit for public interaction and a couple mending charms to put their clothes back in place, then Percy was opening his office door. Most were still out to lunch and celebrating Riddle’s defeat, so no one thought twice about the Director of Defense taking the afternoon off given his busy morning, and Albus kissed him goodby before using the fireplace in his office to floo back to Hogwarts. His mate did agree to bring Mateo and Gellert over to Hogwarts that night though.

His office at school was undisturbed from where he’d left that morning and Albus didn’t know what had Fawkes jumping around like a chick in excitement, but he let the phoenix perch on his shoulder as he moved toward the Great Hall, humming along to the little shanty that the aviary was offering for all to hear. The halls were rather deserted for so near the end of lunch, but given the morning edition of the Prophet’s rampant speculation that wasn’t too odd. He wondered idly if they’d bothered to put out a special noon edition, but doubted it highly.

Even the hounds of the Daily Prophet couldn’t have gotten articles put together that quickly. They’d simply have to settle for making their grand announcement of Tom Riddle’s defeat at dinner. And it would certainly make for an entertaining meal.

When he walked through the staff entrance it became apparent quickly just where all his students were. The answer wasn’t getting lunch either. Instead the masses were surrounding the Gryffindor table, more specifically his grandson, for some ungodly reason.

Newt was sitting at the staff table with Hagrid and Albus crossed his arms behind the pair of magizoologists as he tried to figure out what in Merlin’s name was happening. It took a few minutes, but Harry was actually the first to notice his presence and he abandoned his intrigued masses to lift up a white poof of feathers, looking a bit like the presentation of Simba in the recent animated film that no one had been able to escape, muggle or magical.

Albus rolled his eyes as he took in the snow white phoenix his grandson was hoisting up excitedly, the creature’s only break from the color its gold eyes and onyx beak and talons, “What did you do?”

Both boys jumped a foot in the air at realizing why Harry was showing off his new familiar and that the Headmaster had returned. Newt felt no shame in selling out his best friend though, pointing to the half-giant emphatically, “He did it! I’m innocent!”

Admittedly he was in too good a mood to even care and waved the bickering pair off without waiting for an explanation, before going to claim his typical seat between Minerva and Severus. Harry went back to showing off his new familiar to the masses, while the fire fae clarified, “Interesting morning?”

“Your grandson,” Minnie muttered with an eye roll, “Couldn’t wait for you to get back! I thought he was going to sneak off to the Ministry or burst into flames like a howler; one or the other!”

That made him smile.

Fawkes abandoned his shoulder to go and preen for the excitable students with the new phoenix, but Lord Dumbledore had to admit the sight made him fight off his own sentimentality. No one could deny that Harry was also a Dumbledore now and it struck him in that moment that, with Tom gone from this world, then there was no reason not to make Lily’s parentage public. There was no reason for any of them to hide their relationship with the outgoing second year.

Severus caught the thought, because he chuckled, “It’s done, then?”

“Indeed. News should break with the evening edition.”

He watched the young vampire rub at his forearm sadly and noted when Gellert spotted the tick across their mating bond. Though he was hesitant to do so, Albus quietly shared the previous Dark Lord’s idea for how to remove the mark with Sev, knowing that getting the Potion’s Master free from that blasted thing would mean he could claim Harry without fear of anyone being able to use the brand against either of them. Using Protego Diabolica to remove the mark would truly be a side note and when the Headmaster felt his son’s excitement for the possibility, he promised they’d go down to the Chamber of Secrets to do it as soon as the meal ended.

Beyond Newt and Hagrid’s reveal of Harry’s phoenix familiar, it had apparently been a quiet morning at Hogwarts. Students retaking their exams began doing so after lunch and the rest were free to explore. Albus completed check-ins with his staff hosting redo finals, before the meal started shutting down and students poured out the main doors.

However Harry had gotten out the night before, there was no room left for mystery today as his grandson had Iggy teleport him down to the Hog’s Head in a burst of flames, and he couldn’t really judge given how often Albus used Fawkes to do much the same. His brother, who had bonded with an augurey, or Irish phoenix, he named Bo Peep, because he was a weirdo, would undoubtedly tell the near teenager all about how they both bonded with their phoenixes. Their grandson had certainly found his familiar early on compared to the rest of the family.

“He’s about to come out of his skin to meet Wolff,” Severus commented as they waited until the staff hallway was completely cleared, before opening the entrance to the Chamber hidden behind a depiction of all four founders with a hissed command, “He knows they aren’t related, but no one else in the family looks like him. He's quite stuck on it.”

That was far from surprising for the twelve year old. Euphemia had gotten her dark complexion from her genie father and passed it onto James. With both mother and son having passed, Harry appeared rather out of place amongst his living relatives, who were all pale as the moon in comparison. Hogwarts at large only had a handful of students who didn’t fit within that same description and he wasn’t surprised that the Gryffindor was pulled toward someone who looked so much like him, even if the Boy Who Lived’s ancestry was Middle Eastern and Mateo was a native to the Americas.

“Well, he’ll have to wait just a bit longer,” Albus chuckled, as they descended into the Chamber.

Gellert and the wolf were still wrapped around one another in Nurmengard and the pair were too exhausted to move. The Headmaster would have to admit that, though Gellert hadn’t gotten to know the vampire for very long before Percy’s father forced him back to Louisiana, the siren’s memories of those couple of months couldn’t have been more fond. Apparently that little bit of time had been all it took for the Liberator to simply expect that Mat would always be in their lives and be a parent to their children.

Percy hadn’t been wrong the night before. Albus would acknowledge that when he and Gellert had gone through the Triwizard Tournament his last year in school, and all throughout their summer together, he and his siren mate truly had planned their entire lives out. They’d had names picked out for their children and known how many they wanted; there had been Henry Jr. and Fleamont, for Gellert’s mother, the pirate queen of Deep Mont’s Fleet. Then for girls they’d planned on Kendra and Lorelei. And that had only been the beginning.

Obviously the fire fae had shut down his mating bonds before Gellert knew that Mateo existed. And he hadn’t known until that hellacious night in ‘53. Now that he knew though, the Headmaster couldn’t help but wonder what life would have been like, if the four of them had faced the last century together. It certainly would have been an adventure.

Arriving in the Chamber of Secrets proper, Albus took a look around and wondered if Harry would bond with a serpentine creature as well. He was far from just a Dumbledore, being the heir to Hogwarts, Vampire Society, and the Liberator. After the way the last couple of days had gone, it would be just their luck that the Little Prince would probably end up with his own menagerie.

“I don’t want to know,” Sev grouched of his last comment.

And wasn’t that fair enough? No child, no matter their age, wanted to know about their parents’ sexual escapades. One of the few times ignorance was bliss.

With the basilisk excavated, all that was left of the drafty chamber were stone walls, statues, and the sound of running water all the way around. Albus didn’t much feel like dragging this out when he could see that his son’s aura was absolutely consumed with the nail-biting pulsing pink of anticipation, so he cast the spell quickly. He’d figured most of it out after studying the accounts of those from Paris, who’d escaped the spell’s debut by the imposter, but any questions that the Headmaster had Gellert clarified after being imprisoned in Nurmengard.

The dark defensive magic of the spell always manifested differently depending on the caster. Where the flames went sky blue and bronze for Gellert, and pitch black and silver for Percy, Albus’ tended toward gold and scarlet. He simply made the rules that one had to leave their loyalty to Tom Riddle behind them to earn the mark’s removal and Sev had no problem moving through the flames to stand with him. Before ending the spell they confirmed that the Potions professor’s forearm was as bare as the day he was born, then father and son were swept up in an emotional moment and hugged as the magical fire died around them.

His son took off for his apartments in Slytherin basement to retrieve the completed paperwork claiming Harry as his son and Albus moved back to his office to complete similar paperwork concerning Lily’s heritage. By the time he got there, Gellert had managed to drag himself out of bed in Nurmengard and was there waiting, petting Fawkes in the window seat overlooking the lake, “Sev alright?”

“Couldn’t be better,” He acknowledged. Much like Severus had been ready to claim Harry since the day the Little Prince was born, he’d had the paperwork to claim Lily completed since the day she’d been rediscovered by the family in ‘74. They’d just had to wait for it to be safe, so he used his phoenix familiar to send it in quickly, before sinking down in the seat next to his siren mate.

It was a privilege to be able to watch Gellert’s aura at the moment. The base colors were a warm brown, rich green, and alluring gold, but there were so many others. It looked like a feast ready cornucopia in the way that the rainbow of colors were trying to blend together merrily, even as the recently paroled wizard attempted to combat the shift in his magic with a dark navy line of resistance around the edges, “You could always not fight it.”

Blue and bronze eyes blew wide, before his mate flushed, “The ink declaring Harry to be in our custody is barely dry, Albie.”

“So? You clearly want another one,” He noted, because the lokisfrig transformation only occurred when a wizard willed it, even unconsciously, in addition to the body receiving sperm strong enough to be a contender for conception. It was easy enough to use magic and prevent pregnancy, but it was also easy to just let it happen, "Don't you?"

"I've wanted a baby with you three idiots for nine decades."

"Why are you fighting it then?"

"Harry hasn't even been home with us yet, Percy just started a brand new position," The siren listed off with a sigh, "Mat just got sprung this morning! And I don't even know what's going to happen with Père yet." He hissed and ran a hand through his silver blonde locks, "Percy may not even want another one."

An indignant scoff crossed both of their mating bonds with the vampire, so clearly he didn't object.

It made Albus laugh and he reached to tug the Liberator over into his lap, "You don't have to decide right now, Gel. Why don't we talk about it whenever they haul themselves up from this little excursion with Harry?"

"Mmm… How ever will we entertain ourselves until then?"

Blue eyes flicked around his office and Albus had to confess, "For as long as I've been Headmaster, I've never actually fooled around in here."

"There's a first time for everything."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one's going to be short. Next chapter is Percy's POV, then he got back to Gellert to end this one!


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last one was a little short, so this one is a little long. Because dem is Da Rules! Happy Monday!

"The satisfied sprawl of a man," The asshole muttered right as his back hit the wall, without even bothering to look up, "Who just took over the UK in twenty-four hours."

"More like forty-eight. Had to get my hands on Harry," Percy chuckled and swiped his best friend's drink, "Wizengamot is certainly more entertaining than Congress."

Midnight blue eyes appraised him when the old chaser finally glanced away from his paperwork, but he quickly determined, "I don't want to know."

"Fine," He chuckled and downed his drink like a shot, the burn soothing, "How's Sirius?"

"Busy defiling my house, now that Hel Hall's been properly debauched."

"Please, Gel and I christened that place before his father was completely digested."

"Percy!"

He shrugged, but wouldn't feign remorse. Bastard got what was coming to him. The only thing he regretted was that he couldn't take the old dragon out twice for putting those marks on his husband.

The Director crossed his feet at the ankles and relaxed into the booth as a waitress dropped off fresh drinks for both of them. Abby's specialty, Phoenix House Shine, was being served on ice today, but it was just as good warm in the winter months. He hadn't had the home brewed moonshine, with a strong whiskey kick and bold flavoring of cinnamon and lemons, in over a decade, but now he knew that it tasted just like kissing Albus in his office. Not that he was going to tell Abby that; the goat already said he didn't want to know and that was certainly for the best.

He'd gone by Nurmengard right after Albus left to trade in his suit for a pair of jeans, but he hadn't dared disturb Mateo and Gellert starting up their second round in the garden. They were as relieved to be back together as him and Mat and the two just needed to reaffirm that. There was nothing to do but kill time until Harry got done with lunch anyway.

"All these years trying to get me to move across the pond," He teased playfully, "Then I do and you still bitch!"

"Certainly not the path I wanted us to take to get here," Aberforth muttered, before he passed the plans to have the Hog's Head remodeled across the table, "How long do you think it would take Rhoark?"

"A month? Maybe two?" He shrugged after perusing the papers for a minute, "Why?"

"I was thinking that if I got it to him, then maybe we could do Harry's birthday here."

"You know Gellert would be coming?"

"I'm well aware," He allowed and didn't further comment before summoning Bo Peep, so the augurey could teleport his plans directly to their family's friend and contractor.

Percy didn't do more than shrug, assuming they'd made some sort of frienemies peace since Abby was forced to Nurmengard, and accept the plans, before passing them back and returning to his relaxation. Abby's booth in the Hog's Head was nestled in a dark shadowy corner and didn't scream for attention despite the fact that he was the owner. So when the side of his face started to tingle, despite the fact that Percy had his eyes closed and his head resting back on the wall as he sat sideways in the booth, the vampire assumed it was Abby staring, "What?"

"Just wondering what you're gonna do when the war starts."

"No wars on the horizon that I can tell."

The brat scoffed indignantly, "Perce, come on. You left the States, finished off Riddle, and took custody of Harry. Your father is going to flip his shit, if you try to keep him from a third generation!"

"I also broke Mat out of Louisiana, fucked him in the old man's bed, and trashed his majesty's house," Percy confessed with a grin, "Flip doesn't begin to cover it."

He'd been blocking his familial bonds for almost a century now and he could tell both his mother and father were freaking out. It was the low level worry behind the blockades of them reading the headlines though, so he knew there was still time. Tour ended a couple of days before Harry's birthday, so he figured they'd only realize that he took Mat from Louisiana around then. It would certainly be entertaining when the time came.

It was the sound of a fire crackling that made him look up. Harry arrived in a burst of flames and with a snowy, poofy phoenix nesting right on top of his head. Percy didn't even take offense when he wasn't the first one the second year erupted towards.

"Gabby! Look! Look!"

Unfortunately his reveal may have been poorly timed, because Aberforth waved him off for a moment, still staring at Percy aghast, "Wait a minute, Little Prince. Tell me you fucking didn't!"

"I most certainly did," Percy waved the Gryffindor over to his side of the booth and reached for the little ball of fuzzy feathers, "Let me see her, Little Prince! What in the world happened?!"

"It's Hedwig!" Harry passed the fluffy bird to his grandfather, then crawled into the booth enthusiastically until he was wedged under Percy's arm, "Her anklet was a charmed trinket that Newt gave Hagrid to disguise her!"

"What bad boys," The Director noted, "She's a good bit smaller than Fawkes and Bo Peep."

Harry nodded enthusiastically and the little phoenix flew up to nest in his hair again, "When the anklet came off she burst into flames to regenerate, so she's a chick again! Newt said it should only take a couple of months for her to be full grown!!"

Abby groaned across the table, "You Potters change the game before my brain can even think to keep up. Come over here, Little Prince."

"You had your chance," Harry jested, even as he ducked down under the table to get to the goat faster, careful of his passenger.

They spent a few minutes talking about the phoenix, Iggy flying around with her Irish counterpart when Abby's familiar got back, and Percy would admit they were adorable. Eventually Harry caught them up on his morning with the magizoologists and both were quite impressed that he'd managed to find a familiar at such a young age. Their grandson found himself right impressive when the Hard Charger exclaimed that he'd still never found his own familiar despite all of his adventures.

That also seemed to peak Harry's attention, because big green eyes searched the bar before returning to the vampire with a bit of hurt flaring out of them, "Did he not come?"

It took him a minute.

And Percy only realized, because the wolf in question started rushing to put his pants on where Gellert had just flooed to Hogwarts. Harry had a bare bones shield for his mind, but didn't quite have the skill to appear as a blank presence yet due to his age, so the much older wizard quickly saw how much meeting Mateo meant to him, "Of course he's coming, son. He just had to change clothes after our mission. Thought I was going to get my ass kicked for sending you back to school last night."

Harry only zeroed in on one part of it though, "He went to Albania?!"

"I told you it wasn't that far," Percy teased, "He's a healer."

"What happened?!"

"Hmm…" Percy studied him for a moment across the table and then nodded toward the bar, "Why don't you go get a drink and get it from the wolf? He thinks only the weak abide by classified information anyway."

"Really? I can drink?"

Abby snorted, though his stray thoughts confessed that he'd kept the boys to butterbeer to avoid upsetting his brother before today, "You're twelve, almost a teenager. Go see Harley, I'm sure she can keep you entertained until Wolff gets here."

So, phoenix in hair, Harry bounced up to the blue and bronze haired girl behind the bar. They both waved in assurance that she could serve the boy and snorted in unison when the witch was charmed by Harry mere minutes later. And the second year tried two different drinks before Mat got to Hogsmeande and found his way to the bar.

Percy would admit that he was a little indignant about Gellert implying he might not want more children. He wanted more kids for a century. And the chance to have another with all three loves of his life?

Because from the way Harry was mesmerized by his Thunderbird as of the moment the musician crossed Abby's bar to introduce himself, they'd all be claiming he was theirs before the night was out. And Mateo was clearly taken with the prophesied Henry Jr. come to life too given how he perched at the bar with the seeker telling the story of their daring morning mission. It took a couple of hours before either of the pair cared a bit about breaking from their huddle and it wasn’t a struggle for Percy to see why.

They looked every bit like a father and son chatting, the conversation flowing naturally as the afternoon started to turn to early evening, and neither experiencing a bit of enthusiasm lag. As he and Aberforth caught up on a pointless decade missed between them, keeping an ear out for the two at the bar showed their conversation move from the mission to wars of the past, then even further back to Percy and his twin flame’s childhood and years at Ilvermorny. Harry didn’t share a lot about his childhood in the non magical world, but probably didn’t realize it was much of an option, even after their conversation the previous day. After all, most wouldn’t imagine that being raised by two turned vampires wasn’t all that different from growing up with a no-maj, minus the consumption that came with fangers.

It was after the evening edition came out for the working class that things started to gradually get more hectic. Aberfoth had disillusionment charms cast around his corner since the bar was first erected, but that didn’t stop the masses outside of their bubble from celebrating the end of Lord Voldemort once and for all. Mateo looked to be in the middle of the story of them learning to surf when Percy glanced over to check on the pair and saw some jerk celebrating too heavily knocking Harry off of his seat. He was halfway up to intervene when Mat caught the second year and loosed a growl for the ages, warning everyone within hearing distance that he was a vampire and pissed.

The man wasn’t that drunk and apologized profusely, before he grabbed his drink and hightailed it across the tavern, only checking briefly to make sure that the wolf wasn’t going to follow. Luckily Harry’s hair was grown out and chaotic enough that no one realized who he was and Percy’s lover got him moving toward the privacy of their corner quickly. It was cute when he took a look around the bar and it seemed to strike the healer that the after work crowd had sprung up without his noticing.

“...oody tossers,” Harry was commenting when he flopped down next to Aberforth.

“Bunch of jackasses,” Mateo agreed, “Don’t do any of the work, then celebrate like they did.”

Percy chuckled and draped an arm over his shoulders, the two of them slotting against one another easily in the booth where he was still stretching out, “Probably going to be a night of that. Should be good for business though.”

“Draco still doing alright, Little Prince?”

Aberforth had mentioned that Draco snuck down with Harry the night before, alongside Frank’s boy, Neville. He hadn’t gotten to meet them yet, but given that he had custody of the Boy Who Lived, Percy figured it was just a matter of time. They’d already decided to make the celebration of Harry’s birthday a dual party of the Longbottom and Peverell heir, but he got the distinct impression that it wasn’t going to take that long.

“He’s fine. Kinda wants to talk to his dad though.”

“I’ll send him up tomorrow,” Abby promised, rolling his eyes and commenting on the hold up, "That Black vanity ran true, let me tell you."

"Mum too?"

The goat snorted, "She and your uncles started a perfect hair club for the sole purpose of excluding your fathers."

Harry giggled.

Mat chuckled and extended his hand across the table, "Mateo Wolff."

"I know. He spoke of little else for decades," Abby grinned, "Aberforth Dumbledore."

"Nice to finally meet you. Worried I was getting replaced for a while after Korea."

"Wait, wait, wait," Harry interrupted whatever smart comment the brat would have made, pinching the bridge is his nose, "You only got to meet Grandpa Flea once, you never met Dad or Mum, but he wanted to name me 'Mat', and now you two have never met! What the bloody hell?!"

Green eyes flew to him in a panic and across their blood bond Percy knew his lover was terrified of his answer. He wanted peace and thought the Hard Charger was still pissed off enough to terrify Harry. Instead he just answered broadly, "He's been living in Louisiana when there wasn't a war on, Little Prince. And I've been having a spat with the old man, so it's been worse."

Another set of emerald gems appraised him wearily, "Because you became an auror?"

It would be a lie to say that hadn't started their tiff, even before he eloped with Gellert, "Amongst other things. But, hey…" He didn't continue until Harry looked back up from where his gaze wandered down to stare at the wood grain of the table like the vampire just kicked his puppy, "Any wars I fought in that arena, I did so you wouldn't have to."

That earned him a blinding smile and he tapped the little seeker on the nose. Then the first fight of the night broke out at the bar and it was simultaneously decided that they should get Harry back. It was about time for dinner anyway and Harley had let him try one of everything, even if Mat did most of the drinking after he sipped, but the twelve year old was still a bit tipsy.

"Wait, what's that?" Harry nodded toward Percy's glass that was mostly empty, "I don't think Harley let me try that."

"It's Phoenix House Shine, Little Prince," Percy passed the final gulp over.

"Wine," Abby corrected for the millionth time that night alone, because that is what the menu said these days.

The Hard Charger just snorted, "Sure."

Harry almost coughed up a lung and had to get a pat on the back from the tavern owner, "Wine my arse!"

They all laughed and Aberforth followed them out. He had serious plans to go inform his son that he was dragging his carcass up to Hogwarts after Sirius got done with reparation negotiations the next day. Draco had every right to hold a conversation with the vain pain in the neck and he was going to see it come to fruition.

"The foot lives on," Percy commented when they got to the old cast iron gate leading to Abby and Orion's old house and there was a brief break in the goat's bitch fest.

"The what?"

"Nothing," He dismissed his best friend's question and waved him a goodnight, before calling back as they walked away, "Send him through my office in the morning."

Harry was back under his arm as they moved up the path toward Hogwarts. He'd never actually seen the castle from the outside, only having picked James and Flea up from the boats their seventh year, but it truly was gorgeous. And his grandson was utterly enthusiastic about showing them everything he possibly could once he realized that fun fact.

They'd suspected for years that his niece, Parvati, took after her genie father and was a seer, but she'd simply been too young for them to tell definitively as most fully embodied visions only started with the beginnings of puberty. That didn't mean he was surprised when the girl got an inkling and brought her twin sister to join them. No one could deny that Padma took after her vampire mother, but he still got a hug from the little Ravenclaw introvert.

When it was time for dinner he sent the three on and got the passwords required to join Gellert in the Headmaster suite from his fae mate across their bond. Wasn't even that surprising when Harry looked up at him amidst their hug as they were separating once more, "Five days and you're there?"

"More like four and a half at this point," He purred when the second year hugged him again and gave the boy a squeeze before his youngest disappeared through the huge doors with the girls.

Mat was still holding his hand and pulled him along to the opening where they could see a hoard of staircases flying around beyond the archway. Four and half days still seemed like a lifetime. It was tempting to just check him out early and squirrel away in Nurmengard with Gellert for a few months, but logically he knew that wasn't going to be enough either. He couldn't get the decade Harry spent in the muggle world back, no matter how much he wanted to.

"What the hell is he doing?" Mateo demanded as they were riding the staircases upward.

Percy jumped a bit and his mind started to catch up as he realized his twin flame was studying Harry across the joint space of his mind between his blood bond with the vampire and his mating bond with Albus, the Headmaster scrutinizing their grandson and bringing about the original inquiry. Using Albus' eyes the Hard Charger observed Harry for a moment, the second year abandoning all thoughts of eating to work on a project while his friends watched, and deduced what he was trying to do with a chuckle.

"He's making a bracelet using the flower crown method, with one of Parvati's hair bands as a base," He knew because he recognized his sister's brand of ties that were specially made to handle even the Potter hair of catastrophe without stretching, "And baby phoenix tail feathers as decoration instead of flowers."

"We can see that!" Mat insisted as they stepped off onto the landing, but Albus seemed grateful for the explanation as he hadn't been able to put the oddity together, even when he'd seen Hedwig just offer up the feathers from her spot still nesting in Harry's hair, "But, why?!"

He chuckled and offered the gargoyle the first password, before reaching up to caress the healer's conduits that he'd seen Harry asking about in the bar and starting upward, "I can only imagine."

It took a moment for the other American to start up after him and when he did it was with a curse, "Oh, shit. I'm so sorry!"

"What for? Not like he's going to figure out wandless magic in a day," Percy waved him off and smiled at the squealing girl in the painting that they came upon, "Hello, Ariana."

"Oh my God! You're Henry! Gelly told me you were coming!"

Mat busted out laughing.

And he rolled his eyes, "I go by my middle name, actually. It's Percy. Raspberry truffle."

She opened up, but also seemed to follow then into an empty portrait to his left just as quickly, "He and Abby certainly have a type. I can't believe you're finally here. He didn't shut up about you for a whole year!"

"Did he not?" Percy asked the question just to tease his mate, who was rubbing at his temple with both hands at sending them into his sister's clutches unsupervised.

"Nope! He teased Abby all year about him ending up with a sex god and how the augurey was going to end up with a mere mortal!"

Mateo Wolff couldn't breathe. He was laughing so hard as he dropped onto the sofa with Gellert and it was something about the way his head fell right into the siren's lap that finally drew the portrait's attention to him, "Who's he?"

Albus was truly the color of his hair at the high table and, although he was highly amused by what the Headmaster thought of his bachelor record that had been splayed across tabloid headlines when they first had their mating dream, Percy decided to have mercy on him for the moment, "That's my twin flame, Mateo Wolff. You can call him 'Mat' though."

"Hello, Ariana."

"How was the dump?" Gellert demanded, watching as Harry tried to cast the levitation spell on an apple that he should have been eating.

"Abby's remodeling," Percy put in as he took off his invisibility jacket to put it on the coat rack, "And we're having Harry's birthday party there."

The portrait screamed with delight and took off, he supposed to look for her other brother at the Hog's Head.

"There are so many more fun ways to punish me."

"I'm well aware." He dropped down on the siren's other side and kissed him gently, "Do you want another one, baby boy?"

His head dropped to the back of the sofa and his mismatched eyes studied Percy for the longest time, before he finally confessed, "Yes. I want another one."

"Maybe we should work on that then," Though he purred it out and let himself get lost in his husband's mouth, Percy would admit to not pushing forward from there for a while. They were all waiting for Albus to get done and come participate anyway.

It was about half an hour after dropping him off that Harry finally got his apple to float. The whole Gryffindor table cheered and so did many of the other students when they realized that he pulled it off. And by then Percy needed another drink as it struck him that he may have underestimated Little Copper's only son.

Especially when he had most of the first year curriculum figured out half an hour later and was moving on to his repertoire from the year he’d just finished. By then he was continually rubbing at his sweaty palms and shaking his head to try and focus though, so none of them were surprised when Albus got up to intervene. Severus had been about to, but the Chief Warlock assured that he’d do it, and they all watched through his eyes as he descended from his typical spot to the Gryffindor table.

Percy was curious about who the other boys were on either side of Harry and his mate quickly passed the information of who was who along their bond. He was a bit disappointed in himself for not recognized the dusty blond with big ears a good bit of lingering baby fat as Frank’s only boy off to Harry’s right, while his mate insisted that the Weasley closest to Harry was George, who’d been helping make the bracelet, while next to him was Fred. Of course, the vampire recognized Hermione and Ron across the table with Parvati and he assumed, to have verified, that the little red head next to her brother was Ginny.

“That’s called magical depletion,” Albus explained to Harry where the boy was pinching the bridge of his nose as the Headmaster approached, “Wandless magic can do that if you’re not used to it. Especially at twelve.”

“Oh,” Harry shook his head and looked up at the older Gryffindor, then back down to his bracelet, “Do I need to take it off?”

He hummed and cast a few spells himself, but quickly shook his head, “No, it’s not draining you by itself. Just take it easy for a night… Maybe grab a potion from your father before bed. Actually eating something would also help.”

“Okay,” Harry reached for something while Hermione rolled her eyes; the witch had been telling him to eat for the last half hour after all, “Did Tio Lobo conk out when he was twelve?”

The vampire in question snorted from his spot in Gellert's lap, “Often enough running around with your dumbass.”

Percy pinched him in retaliation, but where Albus didn’t have a direct connection to the Thunderbird he was already elaborating, “No, Ilvermorny has a curriculum built toward both types of channeling. He would have gone through their wandless program.”

“Fascinating!” Hermione decided and the Headmaster had already eaten, so he stayed to chat with the witch for a few minutes. He was still there by the time dinner ended and it was a good thing as he was able to keep an eye on Harry as they second year tried to run off.

Magic depletion was a serious threat, though young magicians tended not to take it as seriously as they should. Most students weren't predicted to get below ninety percent of their own magic in their bodies first or second year, because it wasn’t healthy and there was simply no need to push children that hard. And even third and fourth years were only expected to use up to eighty with electives and extra-curriculars; though Quidditch could often bring one down to seventy given the rough and rowdy nature of the sport with heavy magic drainage when bonding to a broom. Percy caught across their bond, his mate's thought confirming that Albus had even been keeping a close eye on Harry the last two years because he was such a young player, but the boy had never gotten below seventy-five given they were careful to always start the kids off with a full tank. And fifth to seventh years weren’t worried about unless they got below fifty percent as they were more fully developed.

The only professions which routinely challenged grown wizards to get below fifty and down into the thiry range tended to be the Auror Corps and, at times as Mateo could testify, healers when they were pulling someone back from the brink. It took an exceptionally strong wizard to come back from anything under that and no one had ever woken up from getting down below ten percent of magic in their body.

Harry was nowhere near those sort of numbers. He was hovering between sixty-five and sixty when Albus walked up and got him to eat something. They’d all expected him to be fine since he wasn’t resistant to ceasing his magic usage for the night and refueling. 

But, the boy was also twelve.

He’d never been that low before and when he shot up to run off with his pride of lions the drainage clearly caught up to him. With his head spinning, luckily Albus noticed and kept him upright with a firm grip on the second year’s upper arm. The most telling part was when he didn’t even resist and just grabbed onto the Headmaster with his free hand, face hidden in the wizard’s arm.

“Straight to your father it is then.”

Harry groaned, “Just give me the detention.”

“It’s not a punishable offense, as it were,” Albus dismissed, making eye contact with Severus where Percy’s nephew was vacating the high table in a hurry, before sharing, “He’ll meet us in the entryway. Can you walk?”

“Mhmm,” Harry pulled away slowly and shook his head in an attempt to clear it.

“He’ll be fine and back to himself tomorrow,” The Chief Warlock promised the band of students who’d accumulated, including a few from other tables that had come running over, "Off you all trot."

Though some of the kids seemed hesitant, Albus had their trust enough that eventually they ran on out of the hall. Their grandson seemed curious once the students were mostly cleared out and they were alone, "Does that mean he's actually claimed me?"

The ginger hummed and agreed, "Sent in the paperwork just before dinner."

"Huh," It was hard to tell how the boy was feeling when that was all he offered.

So Albus changed the topic of conversation, "It is quite inventive. May I?"

Harry offered his wrist and let the Chief Warlock unclip the small latch on every one of his sister's bands that also worked as a noisemaker, and flint and steel, to inspect it as they got to the end of the tables, "It's a passable conduit, but necessarily temporary. Given her age at the moment, I can't fathom it functioning beyond a few days."

"She gave it a week, but pretty much agreed."

"Once she's grown," Albus appraised the chick in his hair, "Another would last much longer."

"Yeah, hopefully I could come up with something a little better than using a hair tie."

"Presentation matters," The older Dumbledore agreed as he passed it back over.

"Don't delude him," Sev butted in and when Albus looked up the Potions Master was leaning on the wall that led out from the staff entrance, arms crossed over his chest as he waited for them, "Those bands are more useful than any paracord bracelet when the chips are down. He managed to double down on its utility just screwing around at dinner; none of your gaudiness could add value to that."

"Really?" Harry looked down as if he could inspect the hair tie hidden by feathers with enough concentration, "What can they do?"

"Look it up. Aunt Issy calls them Conquer Cords," He waved the second year toward a set of stairs that Percy didn't recognize, "Come on. Let's get you something for the depletion."

"Goodnight, Gingy," Their grandson offered, largely letting his father lead him by the shoulder, because he was still fascinated by the bracelet.

"Goodnight," Albus replied, before also insisting, "You can have utility and a sense of style. Don't let the functionalist drag you down with him."

Where Harry grinned, Sev rolled his eyes, and the last thing they heard before the Headmaster got out of range was his son insisting, "From a man who wore bejeweled robes and gaudy wizards hats for decades. You should need no further warning."

All three men in the suite busted out laughing and so did Albus, which largely killed the time before the Headmaster was joining them. Percy would admit that he much preferred the lion in suits, or nothing, compared to traditional robes. The kiss he got suggested that his fae had caught the stray thought across their bond.

"I really am sorry," Mat insisted, still strone across Gellert and letting the siren play with his hair, "I did not expect him to take it that far when I told him about how natives channel magic."

"Who would have?!" Albus huffed, disappearing to hide in Percy's neck even as he accused, "Your bloody grandchild."

The wolf joined him with a snort, "Will testify in his favor. Any showing out he does for the next two centuries is strictly on you."

Gellert grinned as Percy rolled his eyes and ran a hand through his still gelled hair, "You certainly did set the bar high the last couple of days, pretty kitty."

"Can only imagine where you get it from."

Percy didn't respond to the reference from his twin flame, because he honestly didn't know how anymore. He'd spent decades scrapping with the old man and refusing to even discuss how close they'd once been. Ever since his father stopped talking to him after he married Gellert, it was easier to return the favor, rather than deal with the problem. And after ninety-three years, he'd forgotten how not to ignore the man, now that the adrenaline of showing out had fled him.

Copper Top was already demanding anyway, "Was he always this good at barreling in?"

"Please. By the time we graduated, there wasn't a teacher at Ilvermorny who hadn't demanded why it always had to be us," The Thunderbird laughed, "Eventually I just started pointing. Then so did Gomez."

"You could have stopped following me around at any point, Llorona."

He scoffed, "Never said we weren't willing participants. Just couldn't claim to be the ringleader."

From his place still hidden in the vampire's neck, his fae mate grinned before announcing, "I need a shower."

That probably wasn't a bad idea, so he probed, "Mind if I join you?"

"Of course not."

"I just got out before the boys got up here," Gellert informed and it certainly explained why he was already in a pair of fuchsia pajama pants and a grey undershirt.

"And you best not have left towels all over my bathroom floor," The Headmaster vaguely threatened as they got up making Percy laugh, "Because we are not teenagers anymore."

"I'm more than capable of halting one youthful folly."

"Then what the hell's your excuse at home?"

"It's my castle and I do what I want."

Flipping him off was mostly a tease, because that mantra and most of the Liberator's annoying gestures at home were him dealing with being imprisoned, and Percy already knew that. It was a coping mechanism that he'd more than learned to deal with. And largely even found cute these days.

It was when they entered the fire fae's bedroom that his Gryffindor pride really made itself known, everything trimmed in gold and scarlet, so much so that he almost missed an old friend. Obviously familiar and human didn't have to live in each other's shadows, but the only time he'd seen the phoenix was in the Wizengamot Chambers the day before. He hadn't been around when he brought Harry back to school or when Albus came to his office earlier that morning though.

"Hey, bud. Long time no see."

The phoenix rubbed their foreheads together when Percy approached his perch and across their mating bond he felt when Albus realized they must have known each other from Nurmengard. While that was true, the vampire was grateful when he made for the bathroom to give them a moment alone. After all, the phoenix had saved his arse several times when Gellert almost confirmed their underground ring that he'd always just largely suspected before, and they'd gotten rather close despite not being able to communicate beyond playing charades. Fawkes had even inspired the guard dogs in Mat's tv show, alongside all of the other magical creatures that Gellert collected after encountering Newt and thinking they might aid his cause.

It still made him laugh when the Headmaster didn't make it past opening the door though.

"Gellert Bathazar Grindelwald!"

"Huh! When it's your castle, I still do what I want," The siren called back amidst the wolf's laughter, "Who knew?!"

Percy chuckled as the scarlet Scot with the temper to match dropped into Gaelic as he muttered and started the towels picking themselves up with a wave of his hand. Finding the two adorable, he asked of the phoenix, "And what did we do? We married him."

That finally got Copper Top to confess his mirth with a chortle, even as he marched over to a drawer that proved to be sleep pants, "He is such a shite."

His accent was still thick from having dropped into the other language and he'd admit that it did things to him. An admission that led to him tossing the offered sweats in basic black on the wizard's bright red comfort decorated with a gold roaring lion, so he could descend on his mate's neck, "You should use your accent more often."

Gellert said something across his bond with Albus, but he didn't catch what until the younger wizard demanded just as Percy vanished the plug still in his arse back to Nurmengard, "What's your accent like?"

"Fucking brat is what he is."

"Percy!"

Big blue eyes sparkled and pleaded at the same time, the problem was that he just could do it. Gellert was one thing and Mat never turned his southern drawl off a day in his life, but he hadn't used it in so long that it was hard to even do in front of people he wasn't comfortable with, "I can't."

"Please!" Albus begged and bounced on his tiptoes in front of him in excitement, "Pretty please!"

He thought about it for a minute and then had to shake his head, despite offering up an apologetic grin as he started toward the bathroom, taking off his shirt, "Sorry, Copper Top. I can't."

"Why the hell not?" He demanded, but it wasn't aggressive, the Headmaster already following him along to the shower and stripping himself.

The Hard Charger went to deflect with a joke and really meant it as one. Or thought he did. Right up until the words actually left his mouth.

"You couldn't handle me callin' my kid 'Jimmy', Copper Top. What are you gonna do if I drop into a deep drawl?"

He felt like a jackass as soon as he said it.

Especially when a tiny bit of his accent came out either way and Albus seemed taken aback by the entire experience. After a moment the ginger shook it off though and demanded, “What do you mean? You called him that for years.”

“Nevermind.”

“Percy…” He threw his shirt in the hamper and took a deep breath, “I know I made a mess of our relationship for so long. I do. But I still need to know just how it manifested.” He perched against the sink and honest to God looked seventeen years old again as big blue eyes met the vampire’s marred by upset and regret, “I tried to talk to you and every time I only came back to myself when you were walking away because of my fae magic. I remember things that happened, but I honestly don’t know how that barrier influenced my interpretation of events.”

Realizing how small the usually fierce fire fae looked melted a part of him. Percy moved over to sit on the counter next to Albus after abandoning his shirt in the hamper and thought about how to explain the comment; it had been near twenty years before. He’d started unbuttoning his jeans, but largely gave up on the process as there would clearly be no quick fix to the last century between them, “Do you remember the Crisis Conference in ‘74? Getting stuck with us in the elevator?”

“Sure. Led up to the whole tattoo incident,” The Headmaster recalled, “Got Gellert and you back together that New Year’s.” He hummed after thinking about it for a minute, “I guess that was the first time I ever heard you call him ‘Jimmy’.”

“First time we’d ever done it too,” When the other man’s face scrunched up in confusion, confirming just where Harry and Lily got it from, the vampire laughed and clarified, “Orion only called him that, because it made you look so damn sour. Then we all piled on for a laugh.”

“Uh Huh…” Albus studied him for a moment, before realizing Percy wasn’t going to continue, “And?”

“And we set fire to a bust of you made of pork rinds and alligator skins for the joy of it,” He rolled his eyes and gestured broadly, “What do you mean ‘And’?!”

Laughter burst out of the Chief Warlock before he could stop himself and, after a moment to get his composure back, pointed a single finger at his mate, “My brother does not find out you said that to me until I’m six feet under.” Only after the Hard Charger raised his hand in agreement did Albus return to the topic at hand, “You know that’s not a super southern name? I just don’t… Why do you think I didn’t like it for that?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t even at first, then I didn’t know what else you could have been all puckered about,” He muttered the last part, “Looked like you’d sucked a lemon through the whole ride.”

“The world’s greatest criminal mastermind went by Jim on occasion, you big baby,” A little bit of fire came back into the Headmaster with the sass and Percy was relieved. He really didn’t want to fight with Albus the day that they finally started speaking again, the incident had always just had him thinking the overly academic Gryffindor would have a problem with just how Southern he was by raising, “And that wasn’t why I looked like that.”

He had to admit the first part made him snort, “If he wasn’t six feet under, the brat would never let me forget that one.”

And though Albus grinned, when the older wizard raised a brow as he waited for an answer, he was quick to turn bashful again, “I didn’t… I know this is hypocritical. Before I even say it, let me be clear that I know how asinine it sounds.”

“I can’t wait to hear this.”

“All throughout the time I couldn’t speak to you, I was always very aware of when you spoke to me,” He sighed and ran a hand over his beard and huffed, “Whenever you were mad at me, then you wouldn’t speak. Those were the only times you didn't try and I hated every minute of it.”

The part that made him laugh was that it really wasn’t surprising. When heckling the fire fae at work Percy had always been aware that he enjoyed it to some degree, because Albus was always grinning and would flip him off under tables, or roll his eyes when the Director of Security hit a certain nail on the head perfectly. It had even been a thought to kiss him a few times over the years, or push things further as his pursuance of the Elder Wand Conqueror got particularly flirty some days. He hadn’t, because if the man wouldn’t say yes, then he was terrified that the fae wouldn’t say no, and Percy just couldn’t have lived with that.

“I wanted you to,” His confession was quiet, but the Director could tell it was sincere, “So many days it was all that I wanted and whenever you wouldn’t…”

“Copper Top, I couldn’t…”

“No, you did the right thing,” His smile was watery, “I just fantasized about it. A lot.”

Percy chuckled and pulled him over for a hug before making clear, “I wasn’t mad at you. I don’t recall a time when I really was at work, honestly. If I was quiet, it was because I was having a bad day.” He sighed and recalled how the new President had been stretching his muscles at that conference and how he’d wanted to get out of there. Work had been the last place he wanted to be, “I’m sorry you thought I was.”

"I was sour, because I really wanted to comment on how you'd stuck Fleamont with such an oddity, and how he at least gave that one mercy to his son."

Percy snorted and had to admit that was fair, as well as exactly how Jimmy came to have such a common name that didn't run in the family anywhere else.

Albus shook his head and sighed, “I can’t imagine how often we did that over the last century.”

“Tell me about it, Chief.”

Two things happen at once. He felt the ginger harden to be like steel against his leg and then he caught the beginning of a fantasy across their mating bond. All it took was a moment though, before Albus was backing away flushed and rushing off into the bathroom, “We should get in the shower.”

“Hey! Come back here,” Percy demanded, stalking him over to the shower, “I was enjoying that fantasy you so rudely cut off!”

The flustered fire fae was quick to turn on the water and try to dismiss the moment, “It was stupid. Forget it.”

“Why’s that stupid?” He was leaning on the wall and pulled the other man against him for a kiss, “Pretty vanilla for you from what I’ve heard.”

Albus kissed him again and offered after a moment, “I wasn’t even sure that was something you did. Everything I’d ever heard of you in play before you married Gellert was flipped for the other side of the coin.”

“Mat had me multiple times last night alone,” His tone was teasing, but the factoid was serious, “You didn’t notice?”

“We were a little preoccupied,” The Headmaster clipped.

And he had to laugh again, “Weren’t we all?” Still he stole another kiss before moving to kick his pants off into the hamper and get in the shower, “You can have me anytime you want, Chief.”

It took a moment for Albus to join him, but when he did Percy couldn’t deny that he just went about his usual procedure without so much as a glance backwards. It had the desired effect and within a few minutes his mate took the initiative. They didn’t waste all night in there by a long shot, making it out just before curfew even went into effect for the student populace, but he enjoyed having another lover who enjoyed taking the lead.

Shouldn't have even surprised him given Albus' hallow was the wand that his power kink went as far in one direction as it did the other. They'd have to explore it more later.

Gellert liked all the attention being on him and didn’t show much interest. Sure, they’d been together for decades and even he got bored every once in a while. In general though, Percy had been only having that particular itch scratched when he went to Time of the Blood and was able to get passed off between the wolf and Marius, or when there was a war on. Great as having Mateo between his legs was, when it came at the price of sending more kids to their slaughter both agreed that they'd go without.

When they finally made it back out to the living area in their sleepwear, Gellert was contently laying on Mateo’s chest, neither bothering to accept a drink even though Albus did assure the Liberator that there wasn’t a race on. He seemed quite content to leave the navy block on his magic behind and simply see what happened in the coming months. Sperm could live in the body up to five days and they’d all been with him during that time, so if a pregnancy took place there was no doubt that all four of them would be sharing parental duty. Even as the original lusty burst was fading from all the reunions, good and bad, in the last couple of days, there would also be plenty of time to keep trying if nothing happened right away.

Albus and Percy grabbed drinks for themselves and settled at the bar, all four of them only talking for a few minutes before there was a knock on the door, and the Headmaster was honestly surprised. Minerva was on night duty and he wasn’t expecting anyone to get into trouble, especially not as it was still a few minutes until ten. He told Ariana to open up and was even more surprised when it was his deputy on the other side, “What did he do?”

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” She waved him off with a grin, “And nothing at the moment, I just can’t find him. I wanted to check in after that bout at dinner.”

“Not a bad idea,” Albus noted, “I’ll help you look. He was with Sev last time I put eyes on him.”

“Both of you take a load off,” Gellert instructed, “He’s still with his father.”

Percy could tell that his fae mate was surprised and the reaction caused a certain perplexedness in him.

“Are they alright?”

Even Gellert seemed confused by the question, “Of course they’re alright. Why wouldn’t they be?”

When Albus went to explain, it was obvious that he gained a hundred pounds of guilt alone by admitting, “I don’t think you realize how much contention has built up between them.”

The Transfiguration professor Harry had spoken of so fondly the night he stayed over with them certainly seemed to agree, “No one can say they haven’t been snarling at one another since his very first Potions class.”

“It’s been like James and Severus those first couple of years, but worse,” Albus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, “Even when I’ve tried to talk to them about it, neither seem to know why they poke the dragon, but then can’t resist doing it all again their next class period.”

“True,” The witch seemed to agree with him before she realized she had, then light green eyes went wide as she looked around at the other three wizards and seemingly deduced that she was butting in somehow, “Should I leave? I can leave.”

“Min! Don't leave,” Albus called her back quickly, “You don’t have to go anywhere.”

“You seem to be the kid’s favorite in this circus anyway,” Percy noted warmly, “His, Mione’s, and Ron’s actually.”

“Really?” Gellert broke in before she could properly respond, sitting up on the sofa, “They don’t look very antagonistic to me.”

The lioness was surprised and intrigued when his husband first cast a spell that he designed during the first World War. It could manifest visions to be seen and heard by others, but it didn’t get as much use when he usually just used his mating bond with Percy to do something similar. The conjured image was certainly a cozy enough scene; the vampire had to guess based on the stone walls and black leather furniture that the father and son were still in the Potions Master’s apartment.

Both wizards had managed to lose their robes by the front door and the Hard Charger’s nephew was even relaxed enough that he had a drink in hand where he was reclined against one arm of the sofa. Harry was under his other arm and stretched out over the remaining seats giggling. There was a certain glassiness to his eyes that suggested the second year had already been dosed with a poppy potion and his father had even ordered snacks from the kitchen that were littered on a small coffee table beyond a foot rest that Sev was using.

The only thing antagonistic about the vision was Hedwig being displaced from her nest by her human’s laughter.

“...ade them all do the chicken dance? Even McGonagall?!”

“It was one of their better pranks,” He assured, taking another sip. When the clock struck ten just as it did in suite, the vampire noted, "It's past curfew…"

"Go on, give me the detention," Harry snorted as he sat up, "I couldn't believe you made it this long."

Obsidian eyes rolled, but Severus still caught his son across the chest with his arm strone over the back of the sofa and dragged him back, "That is not what I meant. Besides, you could have avoided most of them if you didn't pop off every two seconds."

"Oh, like you're some great joy to endure," The Gryffindor's retaliation may have been minimized upon him reaching up to hang on the arm holding him in place with both hands, "Was the only time you paid me any attention anyway, wanker. Had to kick my heels up a little."

He watched his nephew hum and confirmed that they were basically hugging when Sev squeezed the boy closer, "That shouldn't have been the case. I'm sorry."

"I know," Harry yawned and suggested that maybe it was bedtime, but his father had other ideas.

"Why don't you just stay here tonight?"

"Really?!"

"If you can abscond to Nurmengard, I don't think anyone will object," He went back to his drink before noting, "We'll probably be stuck among the headlines tomorrow anyway."

The second year groaned, but also moved to snuggle deeper into his father as whatever potion he'd been given took full effect, "Really thought I was done with that trash after the willow incident."

Sev scoffed, then insisted, "I should have kicked Lockheart's arse harder for the first round."

Harry was clearly nodding off as his voice was slightly slurred, "Don't think he could have taken any more humiliation…"

The vampire didn't respond verbally and instead purred until his son went fully unconscious. The vision faded away and Gellert pointed to the portrait vaguely, "That's antagonistic?"

Albus chuckled, "It's certainly new. I know it was a mistake to ignore him, but why were they so at each other's throats for two years."

Minerva had to agree, “They haven’t been able to quit barking at one another since the day after he got here and I’m pretty sure that was only because they didn’t actually speak the night he arrived.”

"Nesting instincts are unimaginably strong in vampires," Mateo offered from a medical perspective, “And Severus lost both his mates and son in one night. The mating withdrawal alone...”

“It’s like the old saying goes,” Percy recalled, “Our pain tolerance is never so high, as our tolerance for our loves pain is low.”

"That’s right. Harry wouldn’t have felt the instinct itself before twenty-five,” The wolf shrugged, “But he’s still a twelve year old boy. He knew his father was right there and ignoring him; we’re lucky he hadn’t got his training in showing out from a professional yet.”

Percy flipped him off, but did defend his nephew, “I’m sure it was hell on him. I’ve been smothering Harry since I got my hands on the kid; trying to resist it would be torture and I’m a couple centuries old.”

“Not quite yet, Cabrón.”

“Yeah, yeah, my point is,” The Hard Charger insisted with a glare, then gave it up as soon as what he was about to say hit him right in the gut, “I can’t imagine any vampire father going a decade without their kid, only to be denied them when they’re in reach.”

“Tastes like vinegar, doesn’t it?” Mat demanded and it wasn’t even aggressive, instead only inquisitive.

And the Wampus had to own that. The only time he’d laid eyes on his père in the last century was Time of the Blood once a decade and no one could deny that he’d kept his distance like a jackass. He’d even kept his familial bonds with him, Mamie, and Nana closed just to make the point that he could play the same game as the old man after the Frenchman found out about him eloping, only he’d done it for a century.

“I’m missing something,” The only witch among them noted and it was Albus who clarified.

“Percy’s having a spat with his father that’s been ongoing for some time.”

She snorted daintily, “I’m going to go out on a limb and say stubbornness is a family trait?” Without giving them any time for rebuttal, the woman moved for the portrait entrance, “I’m off to do rounds.”

It was after she left that Percy forced himself to shake off the melancholic feelings, because he really did have a plan in place to handle that. So, despite his twin flame's suggestions that he just throw open his bonds and talk to the man, he insisted that instead they get on with their night. Things had gone entirely too well in the last couple of days for any of them to be gloomy about past mistakes. It was a time for celebration.

Eventually he stole his husband for a cuddle and left the lion and wolf to figure each other out at the bar. They were certainly tentative, and given their history that wasn't a surprise, but both seemed quite interested in getting to know one another now. Mateo even got a little flirty as the night went on, the tension becoming clear now that his anger at their circumstances wasn't giving him blinders where the Headmaster was concerned.

Nothing happened right away, but the Golden Turul gave them a couple of days at most. Albus had been tempted by the vampire once and it looked like he would be again.

It only struck him as they were cuddling in one of the room's tan recliners that his husband was exhausted, not that it was surprising. He'd been so stressed when Percy got home to start this entire spiral, then they'd had Harry and been figuring the catastrophe out, and Gel had been left to try and hold Sirius and Cissy together before coming over here the night before, all before finally having his reunion with Mat today. Where he still had a few days in him as a vampire before sleep became necessary again, Gellert was probably ready to crash.

Tired eyes still found the energy to study Percy as he watched the wolf's attempts at a serenade and laughed at them. Noticing the attention, he rubbed noses with his seer, "What is it?"

"Just…" Blue and bronze eyes looked away, the image his husband made reminding him instantly of when the Liberator had been trying to figure out if he thought Albus had Harry under control, so there was no doubt that he once more paid closer attention, "Try to be at that train station Sunday, please."

He'd admit he was a little offended, "I told him that I would be. Twice." The probable answer struck him and the vampire sighed, "Was I wrong?"

Gellert shook his head, "It's not the inevitability of a vision that worries me.'

"Then what?"

"We look to the past most often to predict the future."

Glancing over to the bar his other lovers were nose to nose and teasing one another up a storm, rather unaware of them. It made him feel better as he demanded, "What's that mean?"

It took a few moments before his husband answered, but then visions from the past danced across their bond. Each was off Jimmy as a kid, before he'd ever gone to Hogwarts, and Percy watched as they'd be enjoying a weekend together in New York before his phone would inevitably ring. Time after time his second son's face would fall as he listened in on whatever crisis MACUSA needed him to come in for, right before Percy would hang up and by the time he turned around the kid would be smiling bright before demanding that he be allowed to go too. They'd gone down that path a hundred times before James had turned seventeen and actually started trailing him to work every day.

And the revelation felt like being clobbered.

He'd been around more than Flea, but how much was that really saying? There was a reason Jimmy has started calling him 'Dad,' but apparently he'd been just as disappointing at times. Part of him had probably known it too; it wasn't hard to admit that he'd spoiled that kid rotten to make up for working so often.

"I just don't want to see the same look on Harry's little face."

"You won't," He promised before stealing a kiss.

Gellert seemed to believe him and for the seer that was the end of the discussion. Not for Percy though. It stayed with him for the rest of the night.

He went to bed with the others when they did, but when Albus and Mat passed out and Gellert drifted off, the Hard Charger couldn't bring himself to shut down. Waiting until they were all under he wandered back into the living room and put up a silencing barrier. His call didn't even make it to the second ring.

"You too, huh?"

"Who are you putting in at MACUSA?"

"Jauncey. Should headline the Chronicle tomorrow."

"I've got four days to finish up the paperwork from Riddle's case and get Azkaban up to code as a prison."

"The dementors?"

"They vote tomorrow on if they stay or go," He sighed, "If they have to go, as they should, gotta find a place for them to avoid revolt."

"Need some help?" Tina teased, "I'm currently unemployed."

"I'll see you tomorrow, consultant badge at the ready," He thought for a moment, "I'm naming Theseus as my replacement, if there are no objections?"

"Wouldn't dream of it."

"I've worried about Sirius displacing Shacklebolt by demanding the Head Auror role back, but promoting him to lead Special Operations should alleviate the problem," He queried since she clearly wanted out of the auror life full time, "Would you be willing to hold the H.A. spot for a few months until Sirius is cleared?"

"Sure. What's a few more months? Might even be fun, calling These 'sir' for once."

"May he enjoy it while it lasts."

The next morning he left early to make their plans come to life. His lovers were still half asleep, but he still got kisses from all three before departing. There would be time to truly appreciate the sight later.

He worked on the paperwork for the vanquished Dark Lord and the seemingly endless cases that sprung off from his until everyone started to arrive. Tina came first and joined in the melee of administration work that needed to be cleared. Theseus and Shacklebolt were right behind her and agreed to the plan excitedly, though the Hard Charger's oldest bitched about only getting to work with him again for a week, then they just had to wait on Sirius to be brought back into the fold.

His godson arrived midmorning and looked like Percy still might be looking to kick his ass, but he just hugged the dumbass and told him that it was okay. They were fine. There was no doubt that with a decade to think on his terms the kid had his reparation plans well in hand, so he asked how Sirius was feeling about going to Hogwarts. The answer was terrified.

The animagus went into a closed conference with Moody as the interim head of the DMLE and those lasted a couple of hours. By the time it was over Sirius had gotten his wicked way on all fronts and they told him the plan to which he agreed, before the five of them did go for lunch together to celebrate. It was a good day after all, just busy.

After lunch was the Wizengamot session to discuss Azkaban and the dementors. It was the final emergency session before they returned to normal and most were more fascinated by him and Albus bickering then they were the outcome. The creatures were dismissed though, so Percy and Tina split the load. He was managing their relocation since he was immune to their effects, while his daughter dealt with getting the prison up to code and staffing it.

When the Chief Warlock dropped by his office before going back for dinner, he also got caught up on the eruption during breakfast from the headlines. As Sev predicted, he had been splashed on the front page alongside Lily, Harry's lineage being all anyone could talk about. They'd calmed down by lunch, but much of the student population hadn't been able to believe it.

Instead of going home he just kept working and Tina caught a few hours of sleep in his office before rejoining him. It took two days to get the transformation of the prison complete and just as much time for his lovers to figure out what he was up to. Mateo and Albus came by to make sure that he knew what he was doing, before they confessed that Gellert was planning a retirement party. The knowledge made him laugh and he confessed that Tina had been on him to start thinking about what was next, before Percy slid his application to the Headmaster.

Blue eyes blew wide, then shot to him, "You want to teach Defense next year?"

"It was a thought," He confessed and would have flushed if he could, "Harry was talking about his resistance to another professor, but I figured maybe he wouldn't object as much if I took the spot."

"Huh," Mat seemed intrigued by the idea though, "I never thought about teaching."

Albus appraised him, "My choir director had wanted a Music professor hired for years. And Poppy really needs another healer around, if you're interested in either."

Percy could tell the wolf was greatly intrigued. He'd love using his talents to help kids in school, rather than putting them back together on front lines. It would certainly be different from what they were used to.

When he confessed that Tina didn't think teaching could keep him entertained alone, the vampire shared his idea of bringing his businesses in the States to Europe. An attempt to get the old country lifted out of the stone age before this century passed them by was his claim. The problem was that the laws concerning no-maj technology and magic were much more stringent here, so he needed help with the permits.

Albus suggested he talk to Ron's father, Arthur, who worked in the muggle division, as they were hauling in to go back to Hogwarts and Nurmengard respectively. Percy made a mental note to do that once his retirement was official, then the sound of whirling wind called his attention to the window across his office. Admittedly it was a surprise to see Mamie's familiar teleporting in and he wandered over.

"Hey there, Morana. Long time no see."

She was a stunning creature. Solid black and a body as large as a bald eagle, the only spot of differentiation on her was her eyes. Like all other American Turuls they appeared like endless pools of fog and it was unsettling to most, but Percy had always found it comforting. It was a family thing.

Her caw in return sounded like a vulture and as he approached two bouts of movement caught his attention as they bounced away from their mother. Instantly the longtime auror turned into a boy again. They'd been waiting for the aviary to have offspring since he was a small child; her mate had been his mother's familiar and disappeared after the witch's death.

"Look at them! Mor, they're beautiful!"

One was a girl and looked just like her mother. The boy was accented by a white beak and talons; Percy had a stray thought that he looked like an inverted Hedwig. Only when the Hard Charger picked up the little chicklette and her eyes bled black to match his for a mere moment did the implication catch up to him. Albus would be so pleased.

His little familiar, he'd planned to name her Tanda if his familiar was a girl since his second year at Ilvermorny and told her as much, eyed his gelled hair with a certain keenness and he laughed, "Don't even think about it, little lady."

"I didn't even do anything yet!"

He turned and saw Tina coming in with their last round of coffee for the day, but that was when she caught sight of the totem animals for House Graves that had appeared in his office since she was gone. She went nuts and picked up the baby chick, becoming the first person he told about his suspicions that the boy was Harry's second familiar, while placing Tanda on his shoulder. They summoned Newt knowing that he'd love this and Percy expressed his regret that Mateo had already left, because he'd been waiting for this day too.

It was as everyone was playing with the chicks that he finally took the note attached to Morana's leg expecting to get a mouthful from his mother. Instead it was just a postcard from Costa Rica's largest stadium. On the blank back, written in Mamie's delicate cursive that was so light it was hard to believe he even touched the page, was a single line.

_ I don't have a clue what you're doing, but you had best. _

"Last night on the job," Tina noted as the chicks made themselves at home in Newt's hair, "How are you feeling?"

"Is it bad to say I want it over with?"

Theseus snorted where he'd wandered over from his office when everyone else left for the night, "After a hundred and thirteen years on the job, I should think not."

"Azkaban is up to code, staffed, and prisoners have been returned to their cells."

He sat back down in his office chair and vanished his personal effects that he'd never unpacked to Nurmengard, "Just have to get the transfer of power paperwork ready."

"What time are you making it official?" Newt demanded.

"The train leaves at eight and I meet Albus and the terrible twosome at Nurmengard by quarter til three, right after a stop by the Weasley place. So, let's say ten."

He sent his daughter to enjoy her last night of being the boss in her house for a while. Newt said that he was delusional, but they all cleared out quickly enough. Percy just laughed and finally sent Morana back to her human without a reply. They'd get his message of sorts when they got back to Loch Versailles.

He'd been wearing the same suit for a couple of days and went to the decontamination showers with the change of clothes Mat had brought him from home. He vanished the suit and his trenchcoat back to Nurmengard and was quite content to go out in jeans, an old scarlet button up with gold wampusses prancing around the bottom, boots and his invisibility jacket that he'd never worn at work because it felt like cheating. Jimmy had no such qualms with his that matched, but the vampire made a note to grab it from home to give to Harry; it was certainly more convenient than the cloak.

Once ready to face retirement he got all the ink dried on the forms they'd need, not just for the Auror Department shake up, but also the foundation of his company in the U.K. Their sons had flown a car to school at the start of the year and Percy was pretty sure that the Weasley patriarch was like one of Albus' kids, so he was offering to make the man his vice president of the European division. He seemed to have several children running around with Harry and it was probably a miracle they hadn't met yet.

When the sun rose he took a break to get food and coffee as the Ministry branches that didn't get weekends off came to life, grabbing the morning edition and pursuing it to hopefully give Ron's father time to wake up on his Sunday away from work. There was no reason to come off pushy. Despite the Hard Charger moniker, Percy was well aware that he was asking the man to change professions on very little notice and first thing in the morning.

When ten o'clock finally came around he let the kids who were taking over the department bully him into one mimosa to celebrate, but that was it. Once they were all settling in he turned his pen into a portkey and went to the nearest departure room after programming it for the location of the Burrow he'd found in Arthur's files. The clock in the room struck eleven as he was leaving and he grinned at knowing the kids were not quite halfway back to London.

He knew that he was heading for Devon, England, but only once he landed did Percy realize just how close he was to the Lovegood home, where Tina’s only granddaughter resided. Whenever he and the witch had time off they’d often wound up going out there to check on the girl’s welfare until she was old enough to start flooing to the Scamander menagerie in the States; after losing Jimmy and Tina’s only daughter to Riddle’s first round, never would he have begrudged the aerial fae her right to be protective of the girl. He didn’t think she was in Harry’s house, or Sev’s, but honestly couldn’t remember the other two options.

His grandson would probably curse him a bloody American all over again.

The Burrow, as the sign introducing the property read, was certainly the most interesting looking structure he’d ever had the pleasure of observing. There was a garden and laundry off to opposing sides of the yard and chickens running free, despite the coop and barn in the background. The wizard had to guess that the second of those structures had to be where Arthur kept his car before Harry and Ron’s bright idea; God forbid they just wait for an adult.

Little Copper’s generation thought they could do everything themselves and clearly it had been hereditary.

Obviously Harry got it from Albus’ side of the family.

He knocked on the door after the chickens scattered out of his way and let his hands slip into his pockets as he waited. There was a loud ruckus and someone named Errol being yelled at by a witch, making him grin and glance downward. When he did there was a garden gnome about two seconds from chewing on his favorite boots and Percy really didn’t feel like stomping it into the ground, “Think twice, hoss.”

The creature looked up and seemed to weigh his options for a moment, then he decided against the assault. When he ran off to disappear in the nearest hole, Percy recognized several of the nests around the yard, signs of an infestation. Gellert kept a family of jarveys at Nurmengard to keep such bests out of his garden, but he’d been complaining that two of the teenage males were fighting and would have to be released soon, so he just summoned the pair. Twins, they weren’t likely to fight each other if they had someone else to exert their energy on, so he let the overgrown ferrets crawl all over him for a moment and get themselves torqued up.

_ “Master’s back!” _

_ “Gone! You’ve been gone!” _

_ “Play?” _

_ “Play!” _

He chuckled and kneeled down, grabbing one in each hand and showing them the garden even as he kept his grip firm, their long fuzzy tails already batting against his legs, “We’ve got an infestation, boys. Think you can teach these gnomes some manners?”

_ “Manners!” _

_ “Manners!” _

_ “We can do manners!!” _

He let them go, but hadn’t quite managed to stand up when the front door opened. It took the plump witch with scarlet hair a moment to catch sight of him, but when she did brown eyes turned to saucers, “Oh gods, what did they do?!”

“No! No!” He insisted right away, throwing both hands up in an attempt to placate her, shooting to his feet, “Nothing like that! All the kids are fine!”

Her hand not holding the front door open flew to her chest, “Thank Merlin. After the car…”

“I should have firecalled first. I’m so sorry,” He grinned and hoped it would buy him out of the doghouse, “Percival Graves.”

“Molly Weasley,” She blushed and shook his hand, before opening the door, “Please, come in.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Weasley.”

“Molly,” Was her insistence as she shut the door, “What can I do for you, Director?”

“Percy, just Percy,” It actually made him grin to say it, “I’m officially retired as of an hour ago.”

She opened her mouth and then closed it, arms crossing over her chest as she leaned back on the kitchen counter, before offering instead, “My first reaction is to say congratulations, but I don’t know if it’s appropriate.”

“My husband would say there could be no more appropriate reaction,” He laughed, “And I’m actually pretty excited myself.”

“Always worried about one of mine wanting to go into the auror life,” She huffed indignantly, “Instead my second boy just ran off to play with dragons.”

“Gellert hasn’t introduced Harry to that pleasure yet, though I did hear that there was one he met his first year.”

“Norbert.”

“Yes, that one.”

They both snorted before laughing the indignation off. From what the Hard Charger remembered off the top of his head, the Prewetts had the fire spirit inheritance like the Grindelwald line, while the Weasleys were fire faes. He was sure the husband and wife had been as offended by the name as his husband had been.

“Thank you for looking out for him. It’s been a… hell of a process, getting my hands on that kid.”

Her warm gaze didn’t make it difficult to see why Harry loved the woman so much, “He’s such a good boy. I’m just glad that someone did. I was…”

“What?”

She studied him for a moment and then attempted to clarify, “I know people live in different types of neighborhoods. That’s not…”

Percy tilted his head curiously.

So, the witch moved the elaborate after taking a big breath for courage, “The incident that made the papers wasn’t my boys’ first time stealing that car; the twins are just gifted in the ways of Loki. They decided to go and get Harry from Surrey last summer and were upset that he had bars on his windows. He said it was a bad neighborhood, but I almost wrote Albus.”

“Hmm... “ He stopped shielding his mating bonds when he got to the Burrow and his mate was quite insistent that the Dursley’s neighborhood hadn’t been any such thing. There was always the chance that it had gone down hill in a decade though, “We’ll have to investigate that. Thank you for telling me.”

“Why do I get the feeling you didn’t drop by to talk about Harry?”

“While it’s never a chore, I was actually hoping to offer your husband a job.” He’d been loitering by the kitchen table, hands shoved back into his pockets as was his habit, but ceased to pull the V.P. contract out of his jacket interior.

Molly wandered over to take a look and his vampire hearing picked up when her heart raced at the mere sight of the salary figure. He didn’t know what the Muggle division made annually right off the top of his head, but it was undoubtedly less than an auror, and his executive management made three times that, while he offered his right hand man in America five times that, just like he had Arthur. He still laughed at her ernest quip.

“He accepts.”

“I can get the technology and manufacturing underway,” Percy chuckled, “But the permits alone will be a beast and that’s where I need his help.”

Waving him on through the house, Molly nodded, “That he can certainly do. Why don’t you leave the contract here and maybe you can stop him from another mess while you make the offer?”

“Another mess?”

They started moving through the kitchen and Percy could feel the magic that permeated every inch of the house. Being a fae clan, he imagined the empathic magic that Harry had been able to feed on while here was a large part of his wonderment at the Weasley home, because even as a vampire it took a moment to shake the sensation off. The Dumbledore clan would hopefully stay reconvened for more than five minutes with Harry back and a similar feeling would form.

When Albus flipped him off across their bond, Percy just shrugged.

“You see, before he went to prison Sirius gave Hagrid his motorcycle, and with him being innocent Arthur’s gotten it into his head that he can return it to form for him,” She shook her head and rolled her eyes, “And I think I remember James saying that it’s your original design.”

“That it is. I’ll get it put to rights,” He thought about it for a moment as they crossed into the living room, “He might even like an updated model.”

His attention got stuck on a clock that he instantly recognized from Harry’s letters and wandered over before he thought better of it, “It really does show where everyone is! Gellert and I should have thought of something like this to keep up with Flea and Jimmy’s hyper asses.”

It did cover all the basics, showing the twins, Ron, and Ginny as ‘travelling’, while ‘Bill’ and ‘Charlie’ were at work, and both parents were marked as being at home. The woman laughed as she came over, muttering of the contraption, “It usually ran great. For some loony reason it started showing Ron in ‘prison’ the other day; Arthur has to look at it.”

“Did it?” He laughed nervously, scratching the back of his neck for lack of anything more constructive to do as he confessed, “Actually, Gellert and I invited Harry over to Nurmengard one day and umm… Well, he brought Ron and Hermione with him.”

Much to his relief, Molly just scoffed, dry and exasperated sound that it was, as she waved for him to come along, “After they faced down Dark Lords, stole cars, and ran off into the Chamber of Secrets, nothing could surprise me anymore. Did he behave himself?”

“Perfectly.”

“Now I know you’re lying.”

“Should I really believe Harry’s an angel all the time?”

Brown eyes looked back and couldn’t have been more serious, “I’ve never seen such a well behaved child in my life.”

He hummed, but had to admit that Harry was very polite, up until he felt comfortable enough to be sarcastic. While it was a little hurtful that he didn’t necessarily know that about his youngest, having not seen him around anyone outside of the family, he accepted the tidbit to be filed away in the docket he was building of the Little Prince mentally. At least he wasn’t the only one feeling guilty about it, as Albus was still having to let it sink in just how much he’d ignored Harry’s showing out thinking it to just be Jimmy’s hyperactiveness.

They were almost to the barn when Molly almost got tripped by a garden gnome on the run, Percy having to also explain where the javery on his tail came from. She was excited by the prospect of getting rid of the infestation and mentioned wanting to redo her garden, assuming that Arthur took the job, even as she almost immediately dismissed the idea because they’d want to remodel the house first. He just offered her Gellert’s help for the garden and Rhoark’s for the Burrow.

“Arthur,” She was in the midst of calling out when Percy heard the old motorcycle he’d given Sirius when he got promoted to the Head Auror position kick on. The sound was entirely too loud and almost instantly he felt magic seeping out of the barn door as she opened it, so the vampire grabbed her about the middle and moved quickly before either of them could get plowed over. Wand dropping out of his wand tattoo, Percy had the contraption dropping with one good shot only a couple hundred yards away, but the witch went to yelling as she charged back for the barn door, “Arthur Septimus Weasley!!!”

The man who, with his red hair and sky blue eyes, could have easily been Albus’ biological son came out coughing and a little singed around the edges, but truly looking no worse for the possibilities, “I think I used too much.” He took notice of Percy off to the side a moment later and smiled, if a little startled, “Oh, hello. What did they do?”

She took in a big breath and then released it through her nose. Gellert often did something similar and Percy had always said that if he were actually a dragon, then he’d have been exhaling smoke in his irritation. Despite herself though, the question also brought a begrudging smile to her face, “You know, that was my first question.”

“Percival Graves,” He offered, shaking the younger wizard’s hand, “And nothing at the moment. They shouldn’t be getting into trouble on the train.”

The witch of their group scoffed, “If only I could believe that.” She dismissed herself with a wave to go back into the house, “Talk your business. I’m going to get the house ready for the kids.”

“What’s she going to do? Trash it before they get here?” He demanded, still shaking the Hard Charger’s hand, “Arthur Weasley.”

Percy pointed over to the bike, “Let me help you get that settled. They’re much more finicky than cars.”

“So I’m learning. Great Merlin.”

He figured the barn needed some time to clear out, so summoning his tools from Nurmengard was just as easy and they set up shop where Sirius’ old hog had fallen, the wizard intrigued to learn anything Percy could teach him. It was very apparent that this sort of work is what he’d always wanted to do and just never had the opportunity in the U.K. which was such a shame. He understood though; Percy had worked with Fabian and Gideon Prewett and he understood Molly’s reservation to move to America, leaving her parents behind, after they were lost. No amount of income increase would have been worth it.

It did make his job offer fairly easy though. The wizard had already excitedly agreed before they went back inside and going through the contract was mostly just a formality. He’d put in his two week notice at the Ministry the next day and Percy offered him a couple of weeks to enjoy his freedom as he’d be doing the same. They’d have to wait for approval on the business infrastructure anyway, before they could move onto permits.

He was leaving Molly with the floo codes for both Rhoark and Nurmengard when a pocketwatch the witch carried struck three, making him absolutely panic. She just laughed and offered to let him portkey in with them to meet the others at the platform. And it was only as he calmed down just a bit and looked over his mating bonds that Percy realized his lovers had already left without him.

They landed in a shadowy corner of the station and booked it to the platform.

It wasn’t hard to spot his triad of lovers, who had Severus with them, and Albus caught him up quickly on the fact that the vampire hadn’t wanted to go back to Spinner’s End, so he was just spending the summer at Nurmengard with them. Probably for the best. He’d been serious about that nesting instinct and knew they’d probably end up with a host of vampires at the castle before the summer was over with.

“For every time you ever told Flea to be on time,” Gellert handed over Jimmy’s old jacket that had been thrown over his arm with a huff, “You have never been so close to me becoming a terrorist again.”

“I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize how late it had gotten.”

“Interesting morning?” Albus queried, hugging both Weasleys when they wandered over to him.

“Interesting week?” Arthur shot right back and Percy chuckled at catching the stray thought that he’d just started checking the headlines for updates after the last few days.

“The most,” He turned to pull Mateo into the discussion and introduced him as the train approached.

Sirius was already there and hugged his godfather sympathetically, “Just got here myself. There’s a truth to ‘Aurors never sleep’.” 

“Even those of us not on active duty, apparently.”

Cissy and Gellert matched eye rolls, closing rank with Severus as the noise from the train pulling in put an end to all the conversations.

As the kids started to pile off, Albus and Severus went to get Harry’s things, since they’d just put him on the train that morning at eight. They all appreciated the early leaving time at the end of the year, simply because it enabled them to go and get Harry a new wand and his inheritance test before they went home. It took a few minutes, but eventually all eight of their brood pushed through to find them amongst the merriment.

And as far as Percy was concerned, Hermione counted as theirs until she was passed off to her parents beyond the platform; those were the rules with the one kid trying to keep his youngest in line. The rest just seemed to be enablers. He rolled his eyes when Mat caught the thought and reminded him that he’d been just as enabled as Harry ever would be.

Still, having Harry jump on him was the most rewarding sensation. Percy had carefully hidden his reveal from his lovers so that he could show the boy first, taking a knee in front of him after hugging the little witch, not wanting her to feel left out. Both chicks had taken to nestling in his breast pocket together as the sun rose and given they were young, as well as nocturnal by nature, that wasn’t surprising. Though neither had roused for the excitement of the Weasleys or the noise of the train due to a silencing charm, moving them had both them blinking awake, “Look here, son.”

“Real American Turuls!” Hermione cried as Harry was already reaching out for the boy of the pair.

“Percy! How could you not tell me?!” Mat yelled.

“It’s called a surprise,” He insisted, even as his fae mate groaned when it was confirmed that Harry had another familiar. Holding out the chicklette to his wolf, he introduced Tanda before passing her over to the other vampire.

All the kids were swarming Harry, who very wisely didn’t pass the little guy around, but instead put him into his hair with Hedwig. The phoenix didn’t seem to mind sharing her nest and the other kids were mesmerized as their parents collected their things for the trip home. There was a moment where Neville passed by, barely getting to look before being rushed along by Augusta, grouchy old crone that she was. He made a gesture of ripping his own throat out behind her back in Harry and Draco’s direction before disappearing, both boys left behind proclaiming that they had to get him out of the Longbottom Estate as soon as possible. It didn’t surprise the Hard Charger at all when his husband swooped in and promised to have the child come to Nurmengard; he had more leeway with the woman because Tanté Hilda was her best friend.

The Weasleys left first, ushering their kids out amongst the masses headed straight for the portal after assuring their youngest four that they had the floo codes for Nurmengard at home, and then Sirius went to haul Cissy and his son back to Hogsmeade already bitching about the trip. Aberforth had the baby alongside McGonagall and he wanted to get back so that everyone could have dinner together. Draco told Harry to let him know when the Boy Who Lived had Neville and then promised he’d be over, before he disappeared through the portal.

Percy took Hermione’s trolly and told her that they’d walk her out, shocked that her parents didn’t come through the portal since they were allowed to. She had to explain that they’d felt bad for making her an outlier after her first time boarding for Hogwarts and stopped doing so, instead just waiting outside; she hadn’t known the Weasleys yet, or anyone else, “That’s just sick. Tell them to come next year. We’ll all be there.”

She beamed and he pried a little more, asking if she had a fireplace or an owl. He promised to get her a permit to put the floo network in her house and make her a cellphone, since she was quite sure that she wanted a cat. When they got to meet the Grangers, dentists who were excited to meet more of her friends’ parents, they were grateful for both ideas and offered up their address whenever the permit was ready in a couple of weeks. They hated missing the Weasleys, the only other family they’d met when all the kids were school shopping the year before, but Percy gave them his cellphone number and promised to be in touch about plans as the summer moved along. While the pair heard of both Albus and Severus, they were ecstatic to meet Hermione’s Headmaster and professor, both men expressing what a stellar student their daughter was.

When they finally parted ways, Percy pulled his grandson in close, “How was the train ride, Little Prince?”

“Good! Kind of wanted it over with.”

“Fair enough,” Albus allowed, “But it’s part of the experience.”

Harry rolled his eyes, but didn’t bother to argue, “Do we really even need it? Didn’t you basically figure out what I was?”

“Never hurts to have it on record, darling,” Gellert put in, “Besides, we have to drop the cloak off at the Potter vault.”

Their youngest looked up with big eyes, “I can’t use it any more?”

“Don’t think you’ll have much need for it, son,” Percy chuckled and passed over Jimmy’s old jacket, “Here. Put that on.”

“It’s too big!”

“Just put it on.”

He did as he was told and offered when it resized, “Oh.”

“That was your dad’s,” Percy explained as they got into the alleyway leading to Diagon Alley, “Tore a couple corners off the invisibility cloak as a kid and made these. See if you can get it to work.”

Harry experimented with it for a moment and when he disappeared they all clapped.

He came back out of it after a moment and Albus let them into the alley. Mat had never been to Diagon Alley before and Severus needed to do some shopping for his commissioned potions, so the musician went to follow him around. Due to the laws surrounding the dark mark Harry’s father had signed control of the Prince line over to the Headmaster anyway and they were all in agreement about what needed to be done prior to the boy turning seventeen.

It was crowded and a pain, but Percy let his dark magic fan out around them and most parted from their path at sensing it. No one could deny that it made the trip to Gringotts a lot shorter. Being a weekend made the lines ungodly long, but sometimes even the Hard Charger forgot the amount of power that his father’s seat held, largely due to the fact that he’d never used it. When they were moved to the back quickly he was still grateful.

They were only in the room for a few minutes before a rather tall goblin with dark brown hair came in earning a smile from Albus, “Ragnok.”

“Lord Dumbledore, always a pleasure.”

“Allow me to introduce you to my mates, Percival Graves and Gellert Grindelwald.”

“Lord Potter,” He acknowledged both of them respectfully, “Lord Grindelwald.”

“A pleasure, Ragnok.”

“Charmed.”

“And this is our grandson, Harry Potter.”

“Heir Potter.”

“Hello,” Harry was watching the interaction with fascination and Percy had to assume this was quite different from his experience with the Weasleys or Hagrid.

“How might I be of service today, Lord Dumbledore?”

“It depends greatly on your willingness, as it were,” He confessed, “We are attempting to move all of Harry’s accounts under one manager. You’ve already taken on the Dumbledore and Prince accounts, so we are aware that the Grindelwald, Graves, and Potter additions could be quite cumbersome.”

“It would be no issue, I assure you,” Goblins spoke in greed and the lot would make him wealthy among his kind beyond compare, “Might we address them in that order?”

“Very well,” Gellert pulled his letter of permission from his aunt and passed it over, “From Lady Bathilda Bagshot. While she is required to keep control of the Grindelwald lordship until Harry is seventeen, she has handed over all financial permissions and approvals back to me. She is getting older and, quite frankly, threatening to feed me to a dragon if she has to keep up with the paperwork any further.”

The goblin looked over the letter, nodding, “No matter our race or creed, we answer first to our mothers.”

Percy snorted at even the goblin race knowing that the old woman’s claim to be an aunt and not a mother was utter bullshit.

“The Grindelwald accounts have been solely based in Eastern European control since the Pirate Queen of Deep Mont’s death and the total seizure by the Last Dragon. Would I need to acquire a partner versed in their laws?”

“No. That’s the slight I tend to address,” His husband hissed and Percy was well aware that this had been a long time coming. If they hadn’t been living in New York at the turn of the century and Gellert hadn’t gotten consumed by his politics, they would have probably done this a long time ago, “Bring all of my mother’s assets back under control here, as well as those of my father. Tante and I both live here now and it only makes sense.”

“With the utmost personal satisfaction, my lord.”

“That makes two of us,” Gellert agreed, playing with his totem from his aunt.

In an odd moment of wizard and goblin connection the two smirked at one another and Percy agreed with Albus; he wouldn’t want to piss off either. Harry seemed to agree where he was still watching silently as well. The vampire saw the goblin eye his husband’s totem, but wasn’t sure what caught his interest, and soon the creature’s eyes were turning toward him anyway.

“Lord Potter, will you be completing the same actions?”

“No,” He denied quickly, “I have too many businesses under House Graves that I won’t leave to flounder. I will require an American versed aid, if you are not.”

“Of course, I will acquire an accomplished partner quickly,” He sat back and acknowledged, “House Graves has certainly been at its most lucrative since you became of age.”

“James began the work to reestablish the Potter lordship when he turned seventeen, but I’m aware the account manager retired and I did not find another in the last decade.”

“He was largely successful by any goblin here’s understanding. The Potter accounts are the most lucrative in this bank, challenged only by the Dumbledore and Black accounts,” He did nod in understanding though, “I shall put anything to rights that may have slipped in the last decade.”

Albus broke back in as they finished, “Ragnok, as you probably know, my nephew is reclaiming the Black accounts. Are you at all interested in being his manager, or should I send him elsewhere?”

“I already manage Lady Longbottoms accounts as well,” He shrugged, “The last remaining Peverell account would be a genuine pleasure to manage.”

“He will be in touch shortly,” Albus promised, before pulling off the Gryffindor ring after Percy suggested that they repurpose it, the vampire promising him that he’d get his father’s blessing before they bestowed it to Harry, “We’d like this ring made the heirship marker as of Harry’s upcoming birthday. And, lastly, we need him to undergo an inheritance test.”

“I shall return presently then.”

“Now for the exciting part,” Percy noted once the door had shut, “You doing alright, Little Prince?”

“Sure, I just had to sit here,” And the admission was certainly a marker of difference from his father before him. James hated sitting still. He learned to endure it once he got hit with his dose of sand at sixteen, but never found any neutrality, much less joy, in the necessity.

He had to chuckle and Hedwig and… “What are you going to name him, son?”

“Hektor!”

Both aviaries were now fast asleep in Harry’s hair and didn’t show any signs of stirring. They all complimented the name and the discussion largely killed the mere couple of minutes until Ragnok was returning to administer the test. Explaining his curiosity from earlier, the goblin asked about the metal forging Gellert's totem chain and then quiried if Percy would be interested in introducing it to the market; particularly the goblin market. He just told their new manager to send him the proposal as he used a bejeweled and charmed dagger to prick Harry’s finger then promptly excused himself from the room for the two minutes that they had to wait for their answers.

When they got them all four gasped.

Harry was certainly a siren, fae, and vampire. On top of being a genie and, as they bloody well knew and forgot about, a parselor. Percy had to claim a dumb moment on the last, because, “I really thought it was like the fire spirit inheritance and didn’t show up.”

“If he’s got that one, then it’s six,” Albus noted.

“Harry, that dragon from your first year,” Percy called the seeker’s attention to him with his commanding tone alone, “Did you actually play with him, or…”

“I played with him! He liked me and Ron!” Harry shrugged, “Not Hermione as much.”

“Dragons do not just like anyone,” Gellert noted, “Fuck. What are we going to do?”

Albus didn’t wait for permission and just grabbed the parchment, sending it up in flames and letting it drop to the solid ground to burn out was their best option, especially when Percy banished the ashes to the middle of the Atlantic. 

Harry was confused though, “I thought it was good to have it on record?”

“Come here, Little Prince,” Percy ordered and the boy showed no resistance to bouncing over to him, “We never verified if your dad had the fire spirit inheritance officially, because already having three meant that his natural exceptionalism scared the hell out of everyone enough already; four would have made him an unnecessary target. Can you imagine if they found out that you have six?”

“Oh.”

“Promise me that you will not tell anyone outside of your father and Tio Lobo.”

“I promise.”

“Good boy.”

When Ragnok came in they dismissed themselves quickly and claimed they simply weren’t going to list Harry’s inheritances. The explanation that they’d be simply one more thing for the press to flounder about seemed to be convincing enough and they made it out of the bank before four. Despite the last minute surprise, it had been a rather successful trip.

Severus and Mat were waiting on them to go to Ollivander’s at the ice cream parlor and Harry’s father passed him two scoops of choco-lemon swirl, both already aware of the damage from the inheritance test due to their familial and blood bonds with Percy, “You just can’t stop yourself can you?”

“You and Dad caused the worst of it,” Harry sassed, “Mum took credit for what? One?”

“That is true,” Albus agreed playfully as he led the way into the wand shop, “The rest of this really is on you boys.”

Percy’s nephew rolled his eyes, “Oh, kiss my ar…”

“Albus!”

“Garrick!”

The name was familiar, but it took the Hard Charger a moment to remember where he'd heard it before, and by the time he did the two were already tightly embraced over the beaten up, dusty, ancient desk that sat before a rickety chair; the only seating in the whole place. Ollivander's store had to have seen better days, because the upkeep was atrocious in every sense of the word. And he was not letting his youngest get a wand from Albus' ex.

He was not.

"Always good to see you, Gar."

"Albie, I see you finally caved on deaging," As he pulled away from the fire fae, silver eyes shot over his shoulder to the rest of the gathered party. He recognized Percy's husband first, reminding the vampire that they were the same age, alongside Abby, and endured a year at Durmstrang when the wandmaker and Albus were probably recently broken up, the seventeen year old genius only having discovered his mates at the end of June, "Gellert."

"Garrick."

Albus rolled his eyes, "Behave, boys."

"It's like he's forgotten who he's dealing with," Percy commented to his twin flame, who snorted as he eyed the wild and grey haired wizard with wolf eyes, before he pulled a pouty Gellert in for a kiss just so the siren would grin. When he'd managed that he let the Liberator go cuddle up to the healer and wandered over to the desk, extending his hand toward the boyfriend Albus had done all his experimenting with in school, his voice dropping to that bass range for effect, "Percival Graves."

He hated the wizard a little less when it took him an extra second to respond due to nerves and he had the good sense to gulp before accepting, "Garrick Ollivander."

"So I've heard," He continued without giving the man a moment to respond, "This is my twin flame, Mateo Wolff."

"A pleasure," The wolf's smile showed off his fangs, the Hard Charger had no need to turn around to know that. Even if he couldn't see it in the reflection of Ollivander's eyes and it was tempting to laugh. Where most assumed that vampires had to be pale as the moon, his lover was always leading with his fangs to remind that he was, in fact, just as much a predator as Percy.

"Ch… Charmed."

Hazy silver eyes shot to the Headmaster, even as he wasn't released immediately from the handshake, "If I get eaten, just know I will never forgive you."

Percy chuckled a little bit, but it sounded dangerous even to himself, and let the man go.

Albus rolled his eyes, but insisted, "No one is getting eaten."

"I don't know," Percy purred as he turned to his mate, dark eyes slowly rolling down his mates body before trailing back up just as intently to hold his gaze, "That I'd say that."

"I'm missing something."

Five sets of eyes flew over to Harry. They hadn’t forgotten the second year was there, but a decidedly adult air had taken the room. A bubble to which he seemed confused to be on the outs of.

Severus, aware of what was happening but only rolling his eyes, the Potions Master leaning on the wall by one shoulder right behind his son, commented dryly, “Thank Frigg for small mercies.” When Harry shot a confused look over his shoulder, gazing up at his father for some sort of explanation, all he got was a head shake right as the front door jingled again, “I believe this excursion is supposed to be about getting you a wand. Perhaps we could get to that.”

“For the best, sugar. Not sure my heart can take this.”

“Nanny!” Severus, Percy, and Mateo all perked up at once and Harry did the same just a moment later as he recognized the women from the painting.

Behind the American wand maker was a tall and slender woman; pale and willowy, she had cheekbones that could make a razor jealous, along with dark eyes that she’d clearly passed down to both of her daughters, then they did the same for their sons. While Severus and Mateo went to jump on the witch’s feisty wife, Percy went to kiss the cheek of the more gentle lady, “Nana.”

“Hello, sweetheart,” She kissed his cheek in return, whispering so quietly that only the vampires could hear as she did so, “You know how she is. Let’s move this along.”

Everyone knew how Violetta Beauvais was. She hadn’t aged a day over twenty-nine since turning the age, was gorgeous from head to toe, and produced only the most exceptional wares made in North and South America, but it came with some personality quirks. The witch and siren was absolutely the epitome of a perfectionist and quality was everything to her. While Ollivander was a renowned wandmaker, the state of his store was lacking and it was probably already making the old girl sweat bullets, feeling like the dust that covered everything was about to rise up and attack her like a Scooby Doo monster.

Mateo couldn’t resist fooling around at the witches presence and called Harry over, “Mijo, come meet the cuckoo wandmaker in the family.”

He wasn’t expecting Harry to pull the most innocent face of offended judgement imaginable and go on the offense, “That’s not nice, Tio Lobo. She’s a legend.”

“Well, at least someone around her respects their elders,” She pulled the boy in and peppered his face with kisses, while Percy looked away with a snort.

“Wait a minute!”

“Hush!” She ordered, “I don't want to hear it.”

“But, I…”

She hit him with a silencing spell, “Not one word.”

The wolf stomped his foot and looked at Percy, but the Hard Charger just shrugged, “Come meet your nana too, son.”

Both women were quite taken with Harry and fussed over him. It took a few minutes for Nanny and her strong southern draw to actually get across the room to Percy, but when she did it was with the usual pop on the cheek from her vivid red lipstick that didn’t come off for anything less than a miracle and a quip, “Showing ourselves on both sides of the pond now are we?”

“I learned from the best.”

“Hmm… I’ll take credit, though we both know who you meant at the end of the day, sugar.”

He just pulled her over to meet Albus and even introduced her to the shop owner now that he’d had a moment to calm down from the realization of who the man was. There was clearly a wedding band on his left hand that the vampire noted with a little distance and it came back to him a century later that Albus had mentioned in their mating dream the break up was caused by the man finding his mate. It wasn’t as if he was going to encourage them to be overly friendly, but the need to lead with his fangs had passed.

“It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Beauvais,” Ollivander offered, “The same goes for you, Lady Sayre.”

“It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance,” Nana hummed, the Ilvermorny founder a much more tender spirit than her New Orleans born and raised wife.

“Mr. Ollivander,” The witch actually went a much gentler way then Percy was expecting, “Your body of work speaks volumes. I made a wand with your grandfather for Harry here and it’s in the safe behind that shelf.”

He started at the woman knowing about the safe, but shook it off after a moment and began to move the cases from their path, “I know the combination for the larger lock, but not the smaller.”

“He made various wands with different wandmakers,” She kissed Gellert’s cheek and it struck Percy that the two seers had probably connected for the witches to find them at the perfect time and place, “We each have a code to access them.”

Harry was watching fascinated as they revealed the safe, only after the store’s master had shut it down for the time being, after all this sort of thing wasn’t supposed to be public knowledge. And it took a series of magical combinations for the safe to be opened, Ollivander’s part taking about five minutes, while Nanny’s took only two. The witch was trying to hide how appalled she was at the state of the store and Albus made a joke about Percy thinking that the fire fae was the bigot, but he promised to take the Chief Warlock by her store sometime.

If that didn’t explain the shock and upset, then nothing ever could. They’d have to go by when they dropped off Harry’s heirship ring for the work Percy wanted done on it anyway. So, he told them to make plans for the kid to stay with his father for a day, whenever they decided to go.

The American wandmaker stepped back when the wizard went to open his vault and immediately he noted, “There are two wands here.”

“The one in gold is Harry’s,” Violetta explained, the witch brushing the young wizard off in the only visible tick of being in the dusty store that she couldn’t quite stop from showing, though her dark gaze shot over to Gellert as the woman continued, “But the silver is for his sister, should she ever grace us with her presence.”

Bronze and blue eyes glanced up at Albus, where the Headmaster had started cuddling with him while they were opening the vault, the fae well aware of how insecure Gellert could be with an old flame around, “I think she’d like us to move it along.”

“We weren’t the ones causing the hold up, love.”

The seer jabbed him in the rib with his elbow, but they just wound up kissing, making the most tempting of sights. Percy was tempted, but also laughed when Harry gagged, and passed him the wand case that had gone from Ollivander, to Nanny, then onto him, “Show us what you’ve got, Little Prince.”

The plain gold case certainly shined like liquid gold and, before the vault was shut, Percy spotted a silver case that was just like it. Knowing that this had been in the works for probably a century brought about an eye roll, but he smiled down at Harry as the boy hurried to open the case while all of them crowded around the desk around him. First thing that was apparent to everyone when he did so was that it was elder wood, the pale bone color marred by a red pattern shooting up from a natural handle made the conduit look like something set aflame, and it could be nothing else; Albus sucked in a nervous breath and Percy grabbed his hand.

Second was the fact that the wand most certainly was Harry’s. Bright sparks of rainbow colored flame and electricity without the harm erupted from the tip, while a mist like glow that looked like a blend of precious metals took over the air like clouds surrounding the second year. It took a minute for the lot to dissipate and when they did all Harry managed was, "Bloody hell!"

"Thank you, Harry," Nanny grinned, before shooting Mat a dirty look, "Take that for cuckoo, you little shit!"

The wolf stomped his foot and pointed to Harry aggressively, still silenced for the moment.

Violetta Beauvais wasn't having a moment of that though and she drew Harry into a protective hug, "Don't you get nasty with my little prince! I'll hand you back over to Lestat in gift wrap."

Where he was plastered against the shortest amongst them's chest, Harry grinned up at the vampire, who finally gave up and walked away with an eye roll. When he turned Mat was grinning though, so Percy knew he wasn't even that upset to be outplayed. Albus asked what the wand was made of and when Nanny said that she'd keep that her little secret for the time being they could all put together that she didn't want it shared with a strange wandmaker. Ollivander probably did too, but that was the nature of the business and why collaborations were so rare.

They made their excuses to leave and joked about being back whenever the daughter Nanny spoke of finally made an appearance, then Severus suggested they feed Harry at the Leaky Cauldron since he hadn't had anything more than trolley food and ice cream since breakfast. His growling stomach seemed fond of the idea, but Nana suggested, "Why don't we go to Fontaine's? I'm in the mood for their bruschetta."

Harry had never been to the only other restaurant in Diagon Alley, so Percy agreed. Less crowded than the well known pub and with a slightly more upscale feel without forcing the need for patrons to dress up, it was easy to get comfortable and feel more secure in the fact that the silencing barrier he put up wouldn't be disturbed by someone barrelling past it while trying to push their way through alone. He only put it up once their orders had been placed, then demanded, "Out with it then."

Nanny chuckled and pet the two familiars still asleep in Harry's hair, "I braided the Snow Phoenix's first tailfeather with a tail feather from your mother's turul familiar, and a crest feather from this one's thunderbird familiar…"

"Taima? You've seen her?" The wolf had finally gotten his howl back and his voice was full of delight.

"Yes, right after Lestat hauled you back," Nana offered soothingly, "I think she went to hide out in the Carolina mountains until you got set loose."

"We'll go find her, Llorona," Percy promised.

Of course that had Harry lighting up like a Christmas tree, "Can I go?!"

"Course you can, Mijo!"

"Anyway, then I wrapped the cord tightly in a basilisk's shed skin," Nanny continued, "And tied it all together using the heartstring of a Hungarian Horntail who finally had the decency to die."

"Vi!" Nana scolded.

"Fafner, I'm guessing," Gellert's sarcasm could shatter glass as he wrung at his totem, "It's been a nice day of pissing on the old man's grave all around then."

"It's so amazing!" Harry declared enthusiastically.

"And contents not," Severus cut in from the boy's side opposite Percy, "To be shared with the masses."

"Got it, Pops."

Food arrived as the silencing barrier was displaced, so they all changed the subject onto other things. It was certainly a lively enough meal with Harry telling the Nans all about his first two years at Hogwarts and even showing off his bracelet conduit that he’d made impressing Violetta. Though the baby phoenix feathers were coming out because he’d used a very basic method to attach them, she still praised his creativity.

At one point she mentioned that Harry’s new wand didn’t have tracking arms on it. Percy thought there would be a scuffle when Albus said that they should put them on the tool, but their grandson just agreed. Sure that it had been entirely too easy, Severus was the one to probe for why he didn’t object more, in the young vampire’s usual dry way.

“I wrote Aunt Issy,” Harry explained as he finished eating, the rest of them done and sipping wine.

“Ah, hell,” Percy muttered.

“Be afraid,” Mateo laughed, “Be very afraid.”

“She said that she’d make me a special Conqueror Cord in Hogwarts’ colors for my birthday and I can just make a new conduit out of that,” He shrugged, “Draws less attention than a wand anyway.”

“Harry…” Albus was rubbing at his temples and Percy just threw an arm around the back of his chair in consolation.

“What?” The second year studied him for a minute, then genuinely seemed to offer, “Want me to make one you don’t know about? Plausible deniability and all that?”

“Absolutely not,” The fire fae insisted vehemently, sitting back and crossing his arms, “I was clueless enough the last two years. I expect to know everything you get into from here on out forthwith.”

Harry shrugged and went back to his cheesecake with a quipped, “Fair enough.”

“Director Graves!”

Percy looked up and grinned at seeing the young woman bouncing over to their table. She had blood red hair that almost sparkled even in the lowest of light and always wore scarlet lipstick to match. Her eyes sparkled green and the truth was that she looked just like her mother. Always had much of her father’s chagrin.

“Autumn, sweetheart!” Picking her up in a tight bear hug, he put the brand new vampiress back down after a moment and demanded, “What are you doing on this side of the pond?”

She pulled a mousy little thing, a good bit shorter than the scarlet witch, that he hadn’t noticed before up for an introduction. Her hair was shoulder length and in a pixie cut; she was carrying a camera and looked to work for the Daily Prophet if he had to guess. Telling since Autumn had been working for the Chronicle as a reporter since graduating a few years earlier, “I found my mate on my birthday. This is Miranda.”

Percy shook her hand and laughed when she called him ‘Director’ too, “I wasn’t aware it was a presidential title and going to follow me even after retirement.”

“Miranda?” Harry jumped in, “Are you Collin’s big sister?”

“That’s right! You must be Harry!”

“That’s me!” She must have been a student at Hogwarts with family still there, which was confirmed by her poking her head around Percy, “Professor Dumbledore, Professor Snape!”

“Miranda,” They chorused in greeting and Albus grinned at the girl.

They shook hands as Autumn moved to elaborate, “I transferred from the Chronicle to the Prophet, since Miranda’s family didn’t want to up and move her brothers. Collin just finished his first year and Daniel just had his first bout of accidental magic.”

“How did the old man feel about that?”

“He’s still not speaking to me,” She just rolled her eyes, “Mom gives it one more week before she eats him.”

“He knew who he married,” Percy chuckled. Annabella Toombs, who’d gifted her maiden name to her second daughter before him, was not a vampiress to be trifled with. Not even by the Headmaster of Ilvermorny, “Is Abigail here?”

“No, it’s her day off,” She offered of her big sister who owned the restaurant, “Actually, Miranda was just wondering if there was any way we could get a picture of the Vampire Royal Family, so I could do a piece on your retirement for tomorrow’s edition?”

Percy went to dismiss the idea quickly, but gently, “We’re missing a few to do th…”

“Of course you can, darlin’” Nanny cut in, finishing her wine and waving everyone up, “We were just finishing up here!”

Everyone else started to move, including Harry as he wandered out with the witches from the Daily Prophet talking about Collin, who had apparently been one of the basilisk’s victims, with the boy’s big sister. Percy stayed behind to pay the check and shot a dark look toward the woman reapplying her lipstick before the photo op, “Why did you do that?”

“Showing out does not end, Percival,” She reminded as she used her reflection to wipe a bit of stray red off of her bottom lip, “Because your conscience catches up with you.”

He rolled his eyes, but when she stood and tapped him on the nose, like he was still that ten year old who had just dragged a dirty, threadbare, and over the hill old flying carpet into her pristine shop, the nostalgia still made him grin, “I taught you that when you were ten.”

And that was how he wound up lined up with his family on the steps of Gringots letting the girls get a photo for the next day’s issue of the Daily Prophet. He knew it wasn’t going to end well. Of all the shit he’d done to piss off his père in the last week, this one just might get him put over the old man’s knee. Because this was just mean spirited and totally lacked any sort of dark humor to it.

When Harry was excited to actually be in the paper for once of his own volition though, with their family, Percy didn’t have the heart to put a stop to it. And Nanny wasn’t wrong. The art of showing out meant that one was either in or out, there was no grey area; middle ground did not exist.

It would probably lend to an earlier reveal whenever the old man came across it though. Just because it meant that he’d know Mateo was gone prior to his return to Loch Versailles. He’d have to see how it played out.

They all cuddled close and stood where Miranda told them. Albus and Mateo were on the higher steps behind Percy, where he had the Nans on either side of him, while Severus and Gellert were just a step below him, both having a hand on Harry’s shoulders where he was at the front of the pack. It took just a moment and Mat made some crack that had them all busting out laughing right as the witch snapped the picture.

The girls were positively bubbling with gratitude and they spent a few more minutes talking to the pair, before finally going their separate ways. Percy threw his arms around Harry as they made their way to the post office for a portkey, “Ready to go home?”

The Gryffindor wrapped his arms around him as they moved and beamed, “Yep!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a few updates overall. I usually use my Game of Thrones project if I need a break while writing a longer story like Many Crossing Lines, but it's at it's last part (3/3) and requires a lot of work. So, this one has been a pet project and I just decided to finish it before we close close out with the longer version of our favorite teenage rebellion story. That one will be finished before we throw ourselves into the adorableness of baby Harry full stop though, pinky promise!
> 
> I'm also thinking about adding a more tentative place/story where I can put oneshots; follow up to past parts, examinations of what happened in some parts where I faded to black, and just funny ideas in a universe that didn't fit in to a final version of a posted story, or won't become their own larger story with their own beiginning middle and end. I might even make two of them; one for smut and one for everything else, just because I know the first isn't for everyone!
> 
> I hope everyone is safe and healthy! Love you bunches! Happy Early St. Patrick's Day! <3 <3 <3


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